mso-pagination Tahoma; A record number of endangered whooping cranes have already migrated for the winter to the Aransas National Wildlife Refuge and the surrounding area along the mid-coast region in Texas. The latest census flight on November 24 tallied 213 whooping cranes; 181 adults and 32 young who completed their first migration. "Stragglers" can continue to arrive into December, with peak counts for the winter usually not made until mid-December.
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mso-pagination Tahoma; "This is the highest number of endangered whooping cranes wintering in Texas in the last 100 years," said Tom Stehn, Whooping Crane Coordinator for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. "We beat last years record by 19. The next highest record was 194 whoopers in the fall of 2003."
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2" Tahoma; 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 95-million-acre National Wildlife Refuge System, which encompasses 544 national wildlife refuges, thousands of small wetlands and other special management areas. It also operates 69 national fish hatcheries, 64 fishery resources offices and 81 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 and Native American tribal governments with their conservation efforts. It also oversees the Federal Assistance program, which distributes hundreds of millions of dollars in excise taxes on fishing and hunting equipment to state fish and wildlife agencies.
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Tahoma; -http://southwest.fws.gov-
