WCEP NEWS ADVISORY

Final Group of Experimental Whooping Crane Chicks Arrive at the Necedah National Wildlife Refuge

June 28, 2002

Media Contacts:

Chuck Underwood, U. S. Fish & Wildlife Service; 904-232-2580 ext 109
Heather Ray, Operation Migration Inc.; 800-675-2618
Larry Wargowsky, Necedah National Wildlife Refuge; 608-565-4400
Shawn Gillette, Chassahowitzka National Wildlife Refuge; 352-563-2088

The final group of ten (10) whooping cranes arrived by private aircraft on Thursday, June 27, ready to join their older classmates in pre-migration flight training at the Necedah National Wildlife Refuge in central Wisconsin. The ten cranes made yesterday's flight from U.S. Geological Survey's Patuxent Wildlife Research Center (WRC) in Laurel, MD. Seven chicks were transported from Maryland to Wisconsin earlier this month.

Upon arriving at the refuge the chicks underwent a health check before settling in to their predator-proof enclosures at the training facilities. To ensure the birds remain wild and do not imprint on humans in any way, handlers and project biologists will adhere to a strict no-talking rule and wear "costumes" designed to mask the human form whenever they are in the vicinity of the crane chicks.

The flock of whooping crane chicks has been reared at the Patuxent WRC since hatching from eggs collected from captive whooping cranes at that facility, as well as from the International Crane Foundation (ICF) in Baraboo, WI. Exposed to aircraft noise since prior to hatching and raised in extreme isolation from humans, the chicks' specialized training will continue under the direction of pilots and handlers from project partner Operation Migration at the refuge throughout the summer and early autumn.

This fall the juvenile cranes will migrate, guided by ultralight aircraft, approximately 1,230 miles to the Chassahowitzka National Wildlife Refuge on Florida's central-west coast where they will spend the winter in a remote salt marsh area of the refuge. Biologists from ICF and the U. S. Fish and Wildlife Service will observe the cranes over the winter, track them as they initiate their return migration north next spring, and together with biologists from Necedah NWR and Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources monitor the birds during their summer stay in central Wisconsin.

The five endangered whooping cranes from the 2001 ultralight-led migration arrived in Wisconsin in April following a nine-day unassisted northern migration. This historic journey marked the first time in more than a century that Whooping cranes had migrated over the skies of eastern North America.

The recovery plan for the endangered whooping crane requires that a second flock of migratory birds be established in the eastern half of North America. The only naturally occurring flock of migratory whooping cranes makes its annual trip between the Aransas National Wildlife Refuge in south Texas and Wood Buffalo National Park, Alberta, Canada. A non-migratory flock whooping cranes is being established in central Florida under the coordination of the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission. This flock successfully fledged its first whooping crane chick born in the wild earlier this year.

The eastern migratory reintroduction project is expected to last ten years. The project's recovery goal is 125 individuals, with at least 25 breeding pairs.

The reintroduced flock is designated as a nonessential, experimental population under the provisions of the Endangered Species Act. This designation ensures that actions that could result in the accidental death or injury to a whooping crane in the course of otherwise lawful activities will not violate the Endangered Species Act. As a result of the designation, ongoing activities such as outdoor recreation, agriculture and other land management practices within the 20 State, two Province reintroduction areas will not be affected by the reintroduction. The intentional killing or harming of any whooping crane, however, would still be a violation of Federal law punishable under the Endangered Species Act and the Migratory Bird Treaty Act.

Because of the scope and complexity of the project, an alliance of governmental agencies and non-profit organizations formed the Whooping Crane Eastern Partnership (WCEP) in 1999. Founding members include the International Crane Foundation, Operation Migration Inc., U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, USGS Patuxent Wildlife Research Center, USGS National Wildlife Health Center, Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources, National Fish and Wildlife Foundation, Natural Resources Foundation of Wisconsin and the International Whooping Crane Recovery Team. Many other flyway States and Provinces, private individuals and conservation groups are supporting WCEP by donating resources, funding, personnel and private lands used by the migration team and the cranes during the journey south each fall.

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Last updated: May 7, 2009