A national wildlife refuge is typically a contiguous area of land and water managed by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service for the conservation and, where appropriate, restoration of fish, wildlife and plant resources and their habitats for the benefit of present and future generations of Americans.
Learn more about national wildlife refuge in Wisconsin today, leading a flock of sandhill cranes on an experimental migration that could pave the way for similar flights with whooping cranes in the near future.
The 13 sandhill crane chicks have been exposed to aircraft noise by researchers since hatching and reared in extreme isolation from humans at Necedah National Wildlife Refuge in Wisconsin. After undergoing months of specialized handling designed to get them accustomed to following the ultralight aircraft, the birds are beginning a journey through seven states that will take them to their wintering grounds at Chassahowitzka National Wildlife Refuge in Florida.
If the migration study is successful and the birds complete the journey to Florida and return on their own to Wisconsin in the spring of 2001, the same training procedures and route will be used with whooping crane chicks as part of the second phase of the study. If all goes as planned and necessary approvals are obtained from the Flyway Councils, States and other involved agencies, the study could eventually lead to the re-establishment of a migratory population of whooping cranes in the eastern United States. So far there has been strong public support for the proposed project.
"With just over 400 whooping cranes in existence, and with only one migratory flock in the wild, the establishment of a second migratory flock is vitally important to the survival and recovery of one of North Americas most endangered species and the worlds most endangered crane. The steps we take this fall with sandhill cranes could lay the foundation for the return of a whooping crane migration to the East," said U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Director Jamie Rappaport Clark.
The migration will follow the established eastern sandhill crane migration route, passing through Wisconsin, Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Tennessee and Georgia before arriving in central Florida. The migration will cover from 50 to 70 miles per day on days when weather conditions permit flight, reaching Chassahowitzka NWR in approximately 32 days. Ultralight aircraft will be used because they fly at low altitudes and at speeds slow enough to lead migrating birds.
Reliance on humans jeopardizes the ability of any wild animal to survive on its own, and whooping cranes are especially vulnerable because of their small population. In order to test and establish methods that can be used with whooping cranes, every effort has been made to restrict the sandhill cranes contact with humans in order to prevent the birds from becoming too tame and relying on human care for their survival. The sandhill cranes have been raised by humans in costumes that disguise the human form, using mechanical hand puppets designed to look like adult sandhill cranes. The birds have never seen the pilots of the ultralights out of costume. These restrictions on human contact will continue during the birds migration and with the whooping cranes in the near future.
Clark cautioned that despite the preparations made, the studys successful conclusion is not a certainty. "Weve worked hard to put together a solid partnership and enlist the help of state wildlife agencies across the migration route. But this is an extraordinarily difficult operation, and its never been done before on this scale, or for such high stakes," she said.
Whooping cranes were probably always rare, with a population estimated at 500 to 700 individuals in 1870. Nonetheless, they ranged across North America from Utah to the Atlantic Coast, breeding in central Canada and the northern U.S. and wintering from the Carolinas to Texas. As a consequence of unregulated hunting and specimen collection, human disturbance, and conversion of their primary nesting habitat to hay, pastureland, and grain production, the whooping crane population faced extinction by 1941, with only 21 birds remaining.
Today, after decades of captive breeding and the 1993 reintroduction of a nonmigratory population in central Florida, there are 411 whooping cranes in North America, with 266 of those birds in the wild. Of these, there is only one remaining migratory flock of 187 whooping cranes in the wild, migrating between Wood Buffalo National Park, Northwest Territories, Canada and Aransas National Wildlife Refuge in south Texas. The Endangered Species Act recovery plan for the whooping crane requires that a second flock of migratory birds be established, because the Texas flock remains vulnerable to oil spills, disease outbreaks, declining food resources on their wintering grounds, and collisions with power lines.
The Whooping Crane Eastern Partnership, composed of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, the International Crane Foundation, Operation Migration, the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources, the U.S. Geological Surveys Patuxent Wildlife Research Center, the International Whooping Crane Recovery Team, the Natural Resources Foundation of Wisconsin and the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation was formed in October of 1999 to coordinate the ultralight migration study.
Daily updates, news releases, graphics migration tracking and partnership links are available online at the projects web site at http://bringbackthecranes.fws.gov.
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is the principal Federal agency responsible for conserving, protecting, and enhancing fish, wildlife and plants and their habitats for the continuing benefit of the American people. The Service manages the 93- million-acre National Wildlife Refuge System comprised of 525 national wildlife refuges, thousands of small wetlands, and other special management areas. It also operates 66 national fish hatcheries, 64 fish and wildlife management assistance offices and 78 ecological services field stations. The agency enforces Federal wildlife laws, administers the Endangered Species Act, manages migratory bird populations, restores nationally significant fisheries, conserves and restores wildlife habitat such as wetlands, and helps foreign governments with their conservation efforts. It also oversees the Federal Aid program that distributes hundreds of millions of dollars in excise taxes on fishing and hunting equipment to State wildlife agencies.
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Whooping Crane Reintroduction Project Media Contact List
On-site migration team
Joan Guilfoyle, U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service, Midwest Region (WI, IL, IN) Cell phone: 612-810-6797 joan_guilfoyle@fws.gov">
Chuck Underwood, U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service, Southeast Region (KY, TN, GA, FL) Cell phone: 904-910-6254 chuck_underwood@fws.gov">
In State Coordination
Wisconsin Bob Manwell, Wisconsin Dept. of Natural Resources 608-264-9248 manweR@mail01.dnr.state.wi.us
Illinois Carol Knowles, Illinois Dept. of Natural Resources 217-785-0970 cknowles@dnrmail.state.il.us
Indiana Kathy Quimbach, Indiana Dept. of Natural Resources 317-233-0936 kquimbach@dnr.state.in.us
Kentucky Russ Kennedy, Kentucky Dept. Natural Resources 800-852-0942 x491 russ.kennedy@mail.state.ky.us
Tennessee Bruce Anderson, Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency 931-484-9571 banderson@mail.state.tn.us
Georgia Terry Johnson, Georgia Non-game Endangered Wildlife Program 912-994-1438 terry_w_johnson@mail.dnr.state.ga.us
Florida Bill Greer, Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission 850-488-9327
Partnership Main Offices
U. S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Midwest Region (WI, IL, IN) John Christian, 612-713-5101 e-mail: john_christian@fws.gov"> web site: http://endangered.fws.gov/i/B0F.html
U. S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Southeast Region (KY, TN, GA, FL) Tom MacKenzie, 404-679-7291 e-mail: tom_mackenzie@fws.gov"> web site: http://southeast.fws.gov
International Crane Foundation Kate Fitzwillaims, 608-356-9462 x147 e-mail: kate@savingcranes.org web site: www.savingcranes.org
Operation Migration Heather Ray, 800-675-2618 e-mail: opmig@durham.net web site: www.operationmigration.org
U.S.G.S. Patuxent Wildlife Research Center B. H. Powell, 301-497-5782 e-mail: bh_powell@usgs.gov"> web site: www.pwrc.usgs.gov/cranes.htm
Whooping Crane Eastern Partnership Web site: http://bringbackthecranes.fws.gov
