Do you think you would enjoy raising a baby crane? Before you decide, you should know one thing: You’ll have to dress up like a giant bird.

Sarus cranes tend to imprint on people. That means they grow very attached to whoever cares for them, just like a baby animal would grow committed to its mother. But that’s not what biologists want to happen. They want the birds to learn to live on their own. They must keep the birds from knowing their caretakers are actually humans. How do they do it? They put on big crane costumes, of course!

Birdkeeper Sarawut Wongsombat works at the Korat Zoo in Thailand. He wears a white gown to make him look like a crane. In his right hand, he opens the mouth of a large sarus crane puppet. He uses its beak to wave a tiny tilapia fish in front of an 8-day-old crane chick.

About 100 miles north, two animal scientists are finishing their work with two sarus cranes. The scientists wear gray-white gowns with hoods and flapping wings. They release the birds into a wetland. The birds hop out of the arms of their “Mom and Dad” then launch into their first flight ever. A crane’s first flight sometimes ends with a face plant or a crash into a tree. But these two birds land perfectly, making their scientist “parents” proud.

Raising any type of crane to survive in the wild takes careful planning and work. Even after release, the cranes face many dangers. Will farmers tolerate the birds damaging their crops? Will the birds fly into powerlines? The costumed scientists wonder: Does the world still have enough room for these enormous birds?