Whooping Crane Eastern Partnership
2004 Annual Report

2004 in Review - Go here for the complete 60 page report (PDF)

In an effort to ensure the continued survival of Whooping cranes (Grus americana) the Whooping Crane Eastern Partnership (WCEP) is conducting a multi-year reintroduction project in eastern North America. To establish this population in a migratory situation and to encourage wild behaviour, each new generation of captive-hatched cranes is costumed-reared, isolated from human environments and conditioned to follow custom modified ultralight aircraft. Using this method the cranes are guided by the aircraft in autumn along a 1200-mile, pre-determined migration route from the Necedah National Wildlife Refuge in Wisconsin to the Chassahowitzka National Wildlife Refuge in Florida.

Thirty-three sub-adult Whooping cranes that were led along this route during the first three project years continue to select suitable habitat, avoid humans, and migrate unaided twice each year. An additional 14 sub-adults successfully made their first migration in the fall of 2004, which brings the total of whooping cranes reintroduced to eastern North America to forty-seven (47). A number of prior year birds will be approaching breeding age and we hope to observe the first attempts at pairing, and quite possibly nesting behavior this coming year. The goal of the project is to establish a discrete, self-sustaining population of at least 125 birds containing a minimum of twenty-five (25) breeding pairs as proposed by the Canada/United States Whooping Crane Recovery Team. This pioneering flock will augment the only naturally occurring population that migrates in the west, between northern Canada and southern United States, and the non-migratory flock reintroduced into central Florida beginning in 1993.

There were a number of challenges again this year including: 1) weather conditions that slowed the ultralight migration to a record 64 days, 2) loss of two prior year sub-adults, 3) late migration of prior year birds due to a very warm early fall and winter and 4) subsequent dispersal of a small number of those birds along the migratory route. However, these challenges were addressed by the partnership and the project has seen another successfully year overall. Future challenges include: 1) continued consideration of moving the ultralight migration route to the West to avoid the Appalachian mountains, 2) changes in winter pen management to deal with overlap of ultralight birds and prior year sub adults, 3) future genetic management of the population and 4) possible initiation of a supplemental release technique teaching birds to migrate by releasing them with experienced adults, and 5) continuing difficulty to meet project funding goals each year.

The project continues to receive enthusiastic governmental, public and private support and has stimulated interest in protecting and restoring habitats for whooping cranes, other birds and associated wetland species along the route and has also been a strong focus of environmental education efforts. The Power of Partnership continues to effectively support our collective efforts to restore this endangered species and symbol of international conservation to Eastern North America.

Go here for the complete 60 page report (PDF)

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