Endangered Species
Their population hit an all time low in 1940 when fewer than 20 cranes remained in the wild. Their numbers have been struggling back from the brink of extinction, but the long-term fate of the whooping crane is still uncertain. In 2001 a tiny flock of whoopers was hatched in captivity, costume-reared, and led by ultralight aircraft on migration between Florida and Wisconsin in the first effort to reintroduce a second wild, migra-tory flock of whooping cranes to a part of their former range. Five survived the winter and returned to Wisconsin unaided in spring. Each year more whoopers will be added to the new reintroduced flock, with ultralight aircraft leading additional chicks south each fall through 2005 or a few years beyond. Then the oldest of the birds will likely be reproducing, and new captive-bred chicks can be released to learn migration from the experienced birds. A non-migratory flock lives year round in central Florida. These whooping cranes come from captive-bred whoopers and are part of a separate and ongoing reintroduction effort. Additional Whooping cranes are in captive centers in North America. |
