About WCEP | Hatching & Rearing Cranes | About the Ultralight-led Migration | Direct Autumn Release |

Tracking Wild Whooping Cranes | Wisconsin Whooping Cranes |

WHOOPING CRANE EASTERN PARTNERSHIP
News Release

First "Class of 2003" Endangered Whooping Cranes Arrive at Wisconsin’s
Necedah National Wildlife Refuge

April 20, 2004

Contact:
Joan Garland, International Crane Foundation, 608-356-9462 ext. 142
Molly Mehl, Necedah National Wildlife Refuge, 608-565-2551

Two juvenile whooping cranes from the ultralight-guided migration "Class of 2003" returned to Necedah National Wildlife Refuge in central Wisconsin yesterday, completing their first 1,200-mile unassisted spring migration from their winter home at Florida's Chassahowitzka National Wildlife Refuge.

On Sunday, biologists from the International Crane Foundation tracked hatch year '03 cranes, referred to as numbers 10 and 13 as they crossed from Iowa into Wisconsin, eventually landing to roost in Juneau County. On the morning of April 19, the cranes completed their northward migration, returning to their former training site at the Necedah NWR. Class of 2003 flock mate #11 arrived in Wisconsin on April 16. He is currently in Juneau County, Wisconsin, just a few miles west of Necedah NWR.

The remaining 13 birds from the Class of 2003 are still migrating. Cranes 4, 6 and 17 are in southeastern Minnesota; numbers 2 and 7 were last seen in northern Illinois; and numbers 1, 5, 9, 18 and 19 are in west-central Ohio, approximately 25 miles from cranes 3, 12 and 16.

The Whooping Crane Eastern Partnership (WCEP), an international coalition of public and private groups, is organizing the effort to reintroduce this highly imperilled species in eastern North America, which was a part of its historic range.

In 2001, project partner Operation Migration’s pilots led the first whooping crane chicks, conditioned to follow their ultralight surrogates south from Necedah NWR to Chassahowitzka NWR on Florida’s Gulf Coast. In 2002, WCEP biologists and pilots conditioned and guided a second group of juvenile cranes to Chassahowitzka NWR.

In the fall of 2003, WCEP conducted its third ultralight-led migration. Those cranes have begun returning to their summer home in central Wisconsin, and there are now 36 whooping cranes in the wild in eastern North America.

WCEP asks anyone who encounters a whooping crane in the wild to please give them the respect and distance they need. Do not approach birds on foot within 600 feet; try to remain in your vehicle; do not approach in a vehicle within 600 feet or, if on a public road, within 300 feet. Also, please remain concealed and do not speak loudly enough that the birds can hear you. Finally, do not trespass on private property in an attempt to view whooping cranes.

The whooping crane chicks that take part in the reintroduction project are hatched at the U.S. Geological Survey’s Patuxent Wildlife Research Center in Laurel, Maryland. There, the young cranes are introduced to ultralight aircraft and raised in isolation from humans. To ensure the impressionable cranes remain wild, project biologists and pilots adhere to a strict no-talking rule, broadcast recorded crane calls and wear costumes designed to mask the human form whenever they are around the cranes.

New classes of cranes are transported to Necedah NWR each June to begin a summer of conditioning behind the ultralights to prepare them for their fall migration. Pilots lead the birds on gradually longer training flights at the refuge throughout the summer until the young cranes are deemed ready to follow the aircraft along the migration route.

Graduated classes of whooping cranes spend much of their time during the summer on or near the Necedah and Horicon national wildlife refuges, both of which are in central Wisconsin. They also use state and private lands. It is not unusual for yearling cranes to wander, especially if they are not associating with any male flock mates, which typically select the future breeding territory.

Project staff from the International Crane Foundation and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service track and monitor southbound cranes in an effort to learn as much as possible about their unassisted journeys and the habitat choices they make along the way. ICF and FWS biologists actively track the cranes as they make their way north, and continue to monitor the birds, along with Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources biologists, while the whooping cranes are in their summer locations.

Whooping cranes were on the verge of extinction in the 1940s. Today, there are only about 275 birds in the wild. Aside from the 36 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 winters at the Aransas National Wildlife Refuge on the Texas Gulf Coast. A non-migrating flock of approximately 100 birds lives year-round in the central Florida Kissimmee region.

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. They are distinctive animals, standing five feet tall, with white bodies, black wing tips and red crowns on their heads.

Whooping Crane Eastern Partnership founding members include the International Crane Foundation, Operation Migration Inc., Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, the U.S. Geological Survey’s Patuxent Wildlife Research Center and National Wildlife Health Center, the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation, the Natural Resources Foundation of Wisconsin, and the International Whooping Crane Recovery Team.

Many other flyway states, provinces, private individuals and conservation groups have joined forces with and support WCEP by donating resources, funding and personnel. More than 60 percent of the project’s estimated $1.8 million budget comes from private sources in the form of grants, public donations and corporate sponsors.

As the majority of support for this project comes from private sources, individual contributions are always welcome. Tax-exempt donations may be sent to any of the private non-profit organizations in the partnership.

- WCEP -

WCEP founding members:
International Crane, Foundation
Operation Migration, Inc.
Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service
U.S. Geological Survey's Patuxent Wildlife Research Center and National Wildlife Health Center
International Whooping Crane Recovery Team
National Fish and Wildlife Foundation
Natural Resources Foundation of Wisconsin

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/spring2004/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.com

Home