Dressed in a white costume meant to imitate an adult crane, Putin took part in a project to teach the endangered birds who were raised in captivity to follow the aircraft on their migration to Central Asia.
RIA-Novosti news agency reported that only one crane followed Putin on his first flight, which he attributed to high winds that caused the hang glider to travel faster than usual.
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On the second flight, five birds followed Putin, but after a few circles only two had stuck with him.
Putin stopped off at the Kushavet ornithological research station on the Yamal Peninsula on his way to an international summit in Vladivostok.
