Rare white storks are coming back to London after being extinct for 600 years

Reading the news might feel like being inside a flaming car hurtling into a tornado at the moment, but there are still good things happening in the world. 

Don’t believe me? An ‘iconic’ bird that vanished from London centuries ago could be about to make a big comeback. White storks could be re-established in London, after the bird was hunted to extinction 600 years ago. 

The metre-tall birds have already been reintroduced in southern England, and could soon make their way into the city centre. The birds are known for flourishing in urban environments, and conservationists are now exploring whether they could thrive in London. We expect to see them dining on small plates and sipping natty wines any day now. 

Urban rewilding organisation Citizen Zoo is hoping to transform London into a ‘white stork-friendly city’. Their project would involve conducting public surveys, habitat mapping and collaborating with councils and locals across the city to make them stork-ready. 

Before the reintroduction took place in 2016 there were just 27 sightings of white storks in Greater London in the past 40 years. But between 2016 and 2023 472 of the birds were spotted in the city’s outskirts. 

Before their extinction, it was common for white storks to build their nests on rooftops, buildings, and in trees. White storks bring ecological benefits with their huge nests, which act as homes and food sources for all sorts of species including other birds and insects. 

Elliot Newton, co-founder and director of rewilding at Citizen Zoo, told the Independent: ‘These are a really talismanic, iconic species that really do draw and attract attention. You look up into the skies and see a white stork, it’s quite obvious.”

‘We realised in recent years we’ve seen an explosion in white stork recordings across Greater London. And if you look across European landscapes, this is a bird that can actually thrive in urban landscapes, on chimneys, on pylons, and are associated with thriving in urban settings.

‘What we want to see is how can we make London a more white stork-friendly environment, and embrace it for its ability to inspire people about the nature we can and should have close to where we live.’

This extinct big cat could be reintroduced into the UK within two years.

Plus: The UK’s second-biggest bird of prey is making a comeback in England. 

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