Vladimir Putin leads cranes in flight

VLADIVOSTOK, Russia -- Vladimir Putin flew on a motorized hang glider to lead a flock of young Siberian white cranes in flight, a characteristic stunt for Russia's action-man, animal-loving president that was tarnished by reports that endangered chicks had died while scientists were setting up the trip.

Dressed in a white costume meant to imitate an adult crane, Putin was taking part in a project to teach the endangered birds who were raised in captivity to follow the aircraft on their southern migration to Central Asia.

Putin has charmed many Russians while disgusting others with his feats, starting from 2000 when he flew into Chechnya in the backseat of a fighter jet. Over the years, he has ridden a horse bare-chested through the mountains, driven a Formula One race car and taken the controls of a firefighting plane to dump water on wildfires.

The flight in the hang glider proved to be a test of Putin's leadership skills. 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, the RIA Novosti news agency reported. On the second flight, five birds followed Putin, but after a few circles only two had stuck with him for the full 15-minute flight.

Putin stopped off at the Kushavet ornithological research station on the Yamal Peninsula in the Russian Arctic on Wednesday en route to an international summit in Vladivostok, on Russia's Pacific coast.

Once at the station, he paired up with a pilot, who sat behind him on the hang glider as they took the birds for a spin.

It was a scene reminiscent of the 1996 movie "Fly Away Home," in which an estranged father and daughter use an ultralight plane to help a flock of geese migrate. The movie was based on a real-life Canadian, who spent a decade teaching orphaned geese how to fly south.

Putin's moment dimmed, however, when a biology student at the station claimed online that two chick cranes died and several others were hurt in the hurry to be ready for Putin's arrival.

"One of the chicks got into a hang glider's propeller while training and waiting for" Putin, Mariya Goncharova wrote on her page on the Russian social networking website, vk.ru. "One more broke a beak and stripped its claws off on bad netting, and many simply flayed themselves" while being transported in boxes to the flight venue.

Goncharova deleted the post several hours after posting it, but it remained available on Russian search engines.