WCEP Statement on the Cause of Death
of 17 Juvenile Whooping Cranes

April 17, 2007

While the exact sequence of events will never be known, it appears that the 17 juvenile whooping cranes that died during violent storms on Feb. 1-2 were stunned by a lightning strike of sufficient strength to cause them to collapse in rising water and drown in their top-netted pen at Chassahowitzka National Wildlife Refuge. Necropsy results, coupled with weather data from that night, support this hypothesis.

Two birds were examined by veterinarians at the Laboratory of Wildlife Disease Research, University of Florida, and two by veterinarians from Disney’s Animal Kingdom and Disney’s Animal Programs facility.  Necropsy findings included drowning from the aspiration of water into the lungs; trauma; and presumptive electrical shock from a lightning strike as evidenced by diagnostic tissue damage in the heart, kidneys and other organs.

The Whooping Crane Eastern Partnership (WCEP) Project Direction Team has undertaken a comprehensive review of the events leading up to the loss of these cranes.  Once concluded, a summary of the report will be released to the public via this website.

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