Media Advisory

All Migratory Whooping Cranes in Florida Are Healthy

April 1, 2002

The five Necedah/Chassahowitzka birds are doing well, and biologists are expecting the birds to begin their return north anytime between early-April and early-May. This would be consistent behavior based on the existing Wood Buffalo-Aransas migratory flock.

A story appeared in today's Wisconsin State Journal which says one of the five birds at Chassahowitzka Nantional Wildlife Refuge has a broken beak and will not make the return migration to Wisconsin. This is in error. The unfortunate bird is part of the NON-migratory flock study in central Florida which is under the auspices of the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission.

If your publication has ran a story with the incorrect information, we would ask that you consider a correction in your next available edition.

For more information on the NON-migratory flock please contact Henry Cabbage, FWCC, at 850-488-8843.

For information on the migratory bird study, please visit other pages on this website or call one of the following WCEP partner media contacts:

Chuck Underwood, USFWS, at the number shown below
Jennifer Rabuck, USFWS Necedah NWR, WI, 608-565-4412
Takako Hashimoto, USFWS Chassahowitzka NWR, FL, 352-563-2088
Heather Ray, Operation Migration, Inc., Ontario, 905-986-4384
Rachel Jepson-Wolf, International Crane Foundation, WI, 608-356-9462 x142
Bob Manwell, WI DNR, 608-264-9248

Updates, press kits, audio clips, photographs and links to other Whooping Crane Eastern Partnership sites are available at www.bringbackthecranes.org

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Last updated: April 15, 2009