NEWS RELEASE

Second Whooping Crane Flock Heads to Florida Behind Ultralights

October 13, 2002

Media Contacts:

Heather Ray, Operation Migration Inc., 905-718-1292 (on-the-road)
Chuck Underwood, USFWS, 904-910-6254 (on-the-road)
Scott Flaherty, USFWS Midwest (WI, IL, IN), 612-713-5309
Tom Mackenzie, USFWS Southeast (KY, TN, GA, FL), 404-679-7287
Molly Mehl, Necedah National Wildlife Refuge, 608-565-2551
Bob Manwell, Wisconsin Dept. of Natural Resources, 608-264-9248
Kate Fitzwilliams, International Crane Foundation, 608-356-9462 ext. 147
Shawn Gillette, Chassahowitzka National Wildlife Refuge, 352-563-2088

Building on the success of last year's historic whooping crane migration led by ultralight aircraft, another, larger group of the endangered birds began a similar migration today from the Necedah National Wildlife Refuge in Wisconsin.

Guided by four ultralight aircraft piloted by people wearing costumes to mask their human features, 17 of the still juvenile whooping cranes began the first leg of their 1,250-mile journey to wintering habitat at the Chassahowitzka National Wildlife Refuge along Florida's central west coast.

The Whooping Crane Eastern Partnership (WCEP), an international coalition of public and private groups, is organizing this effort to reintroduce this highly imperiled species in eastern North America.

"With the success that we had last year, we are very excited to be starting another migration with a second generation of birds," said John Christian with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, a member of the Partnership. "Our ultimate goal is to see these magnificent birds once again established and migrating in the eastern parts of the United States and Canada." In 2001, eight whooping crane chicks conditioned to follow the ultralights began the migration. Seven whoopers made it to Florida safely and five successfully made the unassisted return migration back to central Wisconsin this past spring. One bird was lost on migration due to impact with a power line when it escaped its pen enclosure during a storm, and two others were lost to bobcat predation during the winter. Both power lines and predation are key threats to all whooping cranes.

The "Class of 2001" project whoopers have spent much of their time this summer on or near the Necedah and Horicon National Wildlife Refuges.

Project staff from the International Crane Foundation and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service will track these birds in an effort to learn as much as possible about their unassisted southern migration and the habitat choices they make along the way.

Whooping cranes were on the verge of extinction in the 1940s. Today, there are still only about 260 birds in the wild. Except for the five Wisconsin-Florida birds, the only other migrating population of whooping cranes nests at the Wood Buffalo National Park in the Northwest Territories of Canada and winter at the Aransas National Wildlife Refuge on the Texas Gulf Coast. A non-migrating flock of approximately 100 birds live year-round in Florida. Since whooping cranes are vulnerable to extreme weather, disease and catastrophes such as oil spills, scientists and conservationists are anxious to establish additional flocks to guard against the impacts such threats might have on the whooping crane's future.

Wisconsin to Florida is part of the historic range of the whooping cranes and this additional migrating flock would be a significant step toward the eventual recovery of the species. According to Joe Duff, lead ultralight pilot and trainer of the birds and co-founder of Operation Migration Inc., a Partnership member, many groups can share the credit for the success this reintroduction effort has experienced thus far.

"Private landowners, corporations making donations, and the Whooping Crane Eastern Partnership have come together to form a strong and determined alliance for the cranes," Duff said. "With such support, we are giving the birds their best chance of recovery."

Reintroduction of any species also requires the support and coordination of numerous state and local government agencies. These species form an important part of each state's natural heritage.

"Wisconsin is thrilled to be such an important part of this exciting project to restore our State and Nation's wildlife heritage," said Beth Goodman, Wisconsin Whooping Crane Reintroduction coordinator.

Whooping cranes, named for their loud and penetrating unison calls, live and breed in wetland areas, where they feed on crabs, clams, frogs, and aquatic plants. A whooping crane is a distinctive animal, standing 5 feet tall, with a white body, black wing tips and a red crest on its head.

Historically, at their peak only about 1,400 whooping cranes lived in North America. Unregulated hunting and habitat destruction caused the population to plummet to a low of 15 birds in the early 1940's While whooping crane populations have slowly increased in recent decades through conservation efforts, the species' survival is still in question. "The world would be a poorer place if these birds were to become extinct," Christian said. "Working together, we will do all in our power to prevent this from happening." WCEP is a consortium of private organizations, government gencies and private donors working to reintroduce a migratory flock of whooping cranes back into eastern North America. The ultimate goal of the project is to reintroduce enough whooping cranes to the flyway to establish a self-sustaining flock containing at least 25 adult breeding pairs. More than 60 percent of the project's estimated $1.8 million per year budget comes from private sources in the form of grants, donations and corporate sponsors.

WCEP founding members are the International Crane Foundation, International Whooping Crane Recovery Team, Operation Migration Inc., National Fish and Wildlife Foundation, Natural Resources Foundation of Wisconsin, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, U. S. Geological Survey's 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.

Educators and students are encouraged to visit Journey South for information and curriculum materials related to the whooping crane project: http://www.learner.org/jnorth/fall2002/crane/index.html

WCEP informational materials will be available at all Wild Birds Unlimited affiliates.

To find the location nearest you please visit:
http://www.wbu.comhttp://www.wbu.com

NOTE TO NEWS REPORTERS: Information on how the first day went will be available online via the WCEP website listed above. For daily updates you can call the Media Information Line at 904-232-2580 ext. 102. The voicemail message will be updated by 11 a.m. Eastern (10 a.m. Central) each morning.

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Last updated: May 7, 2009