Cotswold Wildlife Park has celebrated its most successful white stork breeding season to date after hatching and raising 49 chicks in 2026.

The achievement marks the ninth consecutive year in which the park has successfully bred birds for the White Stork Project, an initiative aimed at restoring a wild breeding population across southern England. The latest group brings the total number of white storks bred at the park for the programme to 280.

A Species Returning Home

White storks were once part of Britain’s natural landscape, but the species disappeared as a regular breeding bird centuries ago. The last recorded breeding pair before modern conservation efforts dates back to 1416. Habitat loss, hunting and later industrialisation are all thought to have contributed to the decline.

The White Stork Project began in 2016 with the goal of establishing a self-sustaining population of at least 50 breeding pairs across southern England by 2030.

Cotswold Wildlife Park works on the programme alongside the Roy Dennis Wildlife Foundation, Knepp Castle Estate and private landowners in Sussex. The project has already produced encouraging signs, including birds that have migrated and later returned to England.

How the Chicks Are Raised

This year’s record-breaking chicks began hatching in May. White stork eggs take around 35 days to hatch, after which keepers closely monitor the young birds while their parents continue to care for them.

Although adults storks bring food to their nests, staff provide supplementary feeding when necessary. Keepers visit the nests daily with finely chopped food, typically fish and insects, helping ensure that every chick receives enough nutrition while reducing the pressure on adults raising large broods.

The chicks are also regularly weighed and measured so that their development can be carefully monitored.

Growth is remarkably rapid. At around two months old, young storks usually leave the nest and begin to become independent. They then spend approximately two more weeks at the wildlife park while staff ensure they are strong and healthy enough for the next stage.

Preparing for Life in the Wild

Once ready, the young birds are transferred to Knepp Castle Estate in Sussex, where they are prepared for release into the wild.

Tracking technology plays an increasingly important role in understanding what happens afterwards. Birds released this year will carry either satellite trackers or electronic tracking tags, allowing conservationists to gather more detailed information about their movements, survival and behaviour.

Every stork involved in the programme also receives a uniquely coloured leg ring, making individual birds easier to identify. Members of the public who spot them can report their sightings, providing valuable information for the projects monitoring work.

Promising Signs for the Future

One particularly encouraging development involves two storks bred at Cotswold Wildlife Park that migrated before returning to Knepp and attempting to breed. Their behaviour offers an early indication that released birds can begin forming part of a genuinely wild population.

The projects ambitions extend far beyond simply releasing individual animals. Establishing dozens of successful breeding pairs would allow white storks to become a familiar sight across southern England once again.

With 49 chicks raised in a single season and 280 birds now bred by Cotswold Wildlife Park for the programme, the restoration effort is gathering momentum. Each successful migration, return and nesting attempt brings conservationists closer to a remarkable goal: seeing white storks become a permanent part of Britain’s skies after an absence lasting centuries.