ContactsRachel F. Levin, 612-713-5311
Joan Garland, 608-356-9462, x142
The
Whooping Crane Eastern Partnership (WCEP) is celebrating a milestone
in its efforts to reintroduce a wild whooping crane flock in eastern North
America. On June 22, two whooping crane chicks hatched at the Necedah
National
Wildlife Refuge, Wisconsin. This historic event marks the first time
in over 100 years that a whooping crane has hatched in the wild in the
Midwest.
The two chicks are offspring of whooping crane pair 11-02 (a male) and
17-02 (a female) from the ultralight-led crane Class of 2002. The pair
nested earlier this spring at the refuge, but their egg(s) were lost--likely
due to predators. They renested and began incubating on May 23.
"
With the hatching of the first two wild chicks from the migratory whooping
crane reintroduction, another chapter in wildlife history has been made.
The journey took six long years of dedication, vision and believing it
could happen--as well as the blood, sweat and occasional tears of the many
partners that worked on the project. This is truly the start of a new generation
of wild things...and a symbol for restoring our wild places," said
John Christian, co-chair of the Whooping Crane Eastern Partnership.
“
This is an incredible moment for the many dedicated people contributing
to this project, however, much like these young chicks, while we’ve
succeeded so far, there’s much more work ahead to ensure this population
of whooping cranes will sustain itself for generations to come,” said
Kelley Tucker, co-chair of the Whooping Crane Eastern Partnership.
"
This is a long awaited moment," said Signe Holtz, director of the
Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources' Bureau of Endangered Resources, "the
success of this effort sets a goal for endangered species recovery efforts
everywhere. The partnership of public, private and government organizations
that has made this possible shows what can be done when we all pull together
with a common goal in sight. These chicks have a long and dangerous road
ahead of them, but with luck we'll see them wing south with their parents
this fall."
(Editor’s note: Medium-res.
photos of the crane chicks and adult birds are available on request)
In May, another “first” occurred
when two whooping crane chicks from a nest in the wild hatched in captivity.
WCEP biologists removed the
two eggs from a nest at the Necedah NWR after their parents wandered away
from the newly laid eggs for a long period of time. The chicks were hatched
at the Patuxent Wildlife Research Center in Laurel, Maryland. They will
join the crane Class of 2006, which will learn the migration route between
Necedah NWR and Chassahowitzka NWR in Florida this fall by following Operation
Migration’s ultralight aircraft.
Biologists from the International
Crane Foundation and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service have also begun
releasing additional chicks into the company
of older birds in the fall at Necedah NWR. These chicks will learn the
migration route from adult whooping cranes or sandhill cranes.
WCEP is using
this “direct autumn release” technique to complement
the known success of the ultralight-led migrations. Chicks for direct autumn
release will be reared in the field and released with older birds after
fledging, or developing their flight feathers. This method of reintroduction
has been extensively tested with sandhill cranes and proven successful.
Four whooping cranes were released by this method in the fall of 2005.
WCEP
asks anyone who encounters whooping cranes in the wild to please give
them the respect and distance they need to remain wild. Do not approach
birds on foot within 600 feet and try to remain in your vehicle. Do not
approach cranes in a vehicle within 600 feet or, if on a public road,
within
300 feet. Also, please remain concealed and do not speak loudly enough
that the birds can hear you. Finally, do not trespass on private property
in an attempt to view whooping cranes.
In 2001, Operation Migration’s
pilots first led whooping crane chicks conditioned to follow their ultralight
surrogates south from Necedah NWR
to Chassahowitzka NWR. Each subsequent year, WCEP biologists and pilots
have conditioned and guided additional groups of juvenile cranes to Chassahowitzka
NWR.
Project staff from the International Crane Foundation and the U.S.
Fish and Wildlife Service track and monitor north- and southbound cranes
in
an effort to learn as much as possible about their unassisted migrations
and the habitat choices they make along the way. ICF and FWS biologists,
along with Wisconsin DNR biologists, and continue to monitor the birds
while they are in their summer locations.
In the first four years of the
project, returning whooping cranes have used wetlands in 35 of 72 Wisconsin
counties, primarily within the lower
two-thirds of the state along major rivers and wetlands. In addition to
the core reintroduction area of Necedah National Wildlife Refuge, the birds’ increased
use of wetlands along the lower Wisconsin River and in more than 15 state
wildlife areas, private wetlands and Horicon NWR demonstrates the value
of preserved habitat to the success of this restoration effort.
Whooping
cranes were on the verge of extinction in the 1940s. Today, only about
300 birds exist in the wild. Aside from the 63 Wisconsin-Florida
birds, the only other migrating population of whooping cranes nests at
the Wood Buffalo National Park in the Northwest Territories of Canada
and winters at the Aransas National Wildlife Refuge on the Texas Gulf Coast.
A non-migrating flock of approximately 60 birds lives year-round in the
central Florida Kissimmee region.
Whooping cranes, named for their loud
and penetrating unison calls, live and breed in wetlands, where they
feed on crabs, clams, frogs and aquatic
plants. They are distinctive animals, standing five feet tall, with white
bodies, black wing tips and red crowns on their heads.
Whooping Crane Eastern
Partnership founding members are the International Crane Foundation, Operation
Migration Inc., Wisconsin Department of Natural
Resource, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, the U.S. Geological Survey’s
Patuxent Wildlife Research Center and National Wildlife Health Center,
the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation, the Natural Resources Foundation
of Wisconsin, and the International Whooping Crane Recovery Team.
Many
other states, provinces, private individuals and conservation groups have
joined forces with and support WCEP by donating resources, funding
and personnel. More than 60 percent of the project’s budget comes
from private sources in the form of grants, donations and corporate sponsors.
-WCEP-
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