The sixteen whooping cranes from the Eastern migratory flock reached Georgia today on their 1,250-mile fall migration from Chassahowitzka National Wildlife Refuge along Floridas central Gulf Coast. These majestic birds, the largest in North America, left Necedah on October 13, and were delayed for several days in Wisconsin, Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky and Tennessee due to wind and rain before reaching Georgia. The birds reached the halfway point of the migration on November 14, 2002 when they landed safely in Fentress County, Tennessee. The birds have been following four ultra light aircraft.
"The Fish and Wildlife Service is proud to be a partner in this multi-year reintroduction project," said Sam D. Hamilton, the Services Southeast Regional Director. "While weather continues to be a major challenge to the migrations progress, the 16 birds are doing well and were happy to welcome them to Georgia."
These sixteen whooping cranes are the second generation of birds to make this historic, assisted migration from Wisconsin to Florida. One crane, injured on the first day of the migration when the weather took a turn for the worse causing a mid-air collision, had to be euthanized after it did not respond to 12 days of treatment by veterinarians at the
The reintroduction is part of an ongoing recovery effort for the highly imperiled species, which was on the verge of extinction in the 1940s and even today numbers only about 260 birds in the wild. Except for the Wisconsin-Florida birds now migrating, the continents only other migratory population of whooping cranes winters at Aransas National Wildlife Refuge on the Texas Gulf Coast. A non-migrating flock of about 100 cranes remain year-round in central Florida, as part of an ongoing reintroduction study led by the
Founding members of the WCEP include the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, the International Crane Foundation, the International Whooping Crane Recovery Team, Operation Migration, Inc., National Fish and Wildlife Foundation, U.S. Geological Surveys Patuxent Wildlife Research Center and National Wildlife Health Center and Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources. Many other flyway states, provinces, private individuals and conservation groups have joined forces with and support WCEP by donating resources, funding and personnel.
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 94-million-acre National Wildlife Refuge System that encompasses more than 535 national wildlife refuges, thousands of small wetlands, and other special management areas. It also operates 70 national fish hatcheries, 64 fishery resource 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 fish and wildlife agencies.
Note: B-roll is available by calling (905) 718-1292. Daily updates are recorded at (904) 232-2580 ext. 102.
