Current Whooping Crane Flock Status

WHOOPING CRANE NUMBERS –  April 3, 2008

Aransas – Wood Buffalo Migratory Flock (Synopsis)

View a recent WCCA newsletter article from Brian Johns, Canadian Wildlife Service, WBNP

The Whooping Crane, known as the symbol of conservation, is one of the better known endangered species. They symbolize the struggle to maintain the vanishing creatures of our world.

The original wild flock of Whooping Cranes is made up of birds that have always lived in natural circumstances. This flock is the only naturally occurring wild population in the world. Two other flocks are formed by Whooping cranes hatched and reared in captivity and reintroduced into the wild. Until these two flocks establish themselves by reproducing and adapting to the natural environment, they are deemed experimental.

The wild Whooping Crane flock spends its summers in Wood Buffalo National Park in the Northwest Territories of Canada. They nest and rear their young here. During the fall season, the Whoopers migrate 2,400 miles south to Aransas National Wildlife Refuge on the coast of Texas where they spend the winter and early spring.

About 1,400 whooping cranes are believed to have existed in 1860. Their population declined because of hunting and habitat loss until 1941 when the last migrating flock dwindled to an all-time low of 16 birds. The wild flock has slowly increased to over 184 in 2003. This flock winters in and around Aransas National Wildlife Refuge on the Gulf coast of Texas. In spring, they migrate north, nesting in Wood Buffalo National Park, which straddles the border of Alberta and Northwest Territories in Canada.

Florida Whooping Crane Non-Migratory Flock (Synopsis)

View a recent Newsletter article concerning this flock

Florida’s Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission is involved in a large-scale project to restore Whooping Cranes to their former range in the southeastern United States. Records show Whooping Cranes in Florida during the 1930's. 

The project was initiated in 1990 at the request of the Whooping Crane Recovery Team. The Commission is the lead agency in Florida, but this project is a cooperative effort involving the USFWS, U.S. Geological Survey, the Canadian Wildlife Service, and the International Crane Foundation (ICF).

The first objective was to determine if a population of nonmigratory Whooping Cranes (as had persisted in Louisiana until the late 1940's) could be developed from genetically migratory stock. Migratory and nonmigratory subspecies of Sandhill Cranes were used in place of Whooping Cranes to answer the question of whether migration in cranes is an acquired (learned) or innate (genetically dictated) characteristic.   Our initial studies proved that nonmigratory cranes could be produced from migratory stock.  Also, research on Sandhill Cranes in Florida and elsewhere identified the most appropriate technique to reintroduce cranes into former range.

In 1990 Florida's Kissimmee Prairie was selected by the USFWS as most promising for attempting the first reintroduction of Whooping Cranes in eastern North America. One reason Florida was selected is that a large and successful population of nonmigratory Sandhill Cranes is there.  The other 2 populations of nonmigratory Sandhill Cranes (Cuban and Mississippi) are far less successful.  So it seemed reasonable that if nonmigratory Whooping Cranes could succeed anywhere, Florida was the most logical place to try.

The first release of 14 Whooping Cranes was in February 1993.  Between 19 and 48 cranes have been released each year since, for a total of 268 (as of spring 2003). We are using soft-release or gentle-release techniques to release the birds. The technique involves a protracted period of acclimation in a specially constructed release pen.  This is followed by a gradual transition to life on their own.                                                       

The majority of birds we have released were 8 to 10 months old.  They had been hatched and reared from eggs of captive Whooping Cranes at the U. S. Geological Survey's Patuxent Environmental Science Center and the ICF.  Additional birds have recently come from the Calgary Zoo and San Antonio Zoo.  Because of our experience with Sandhill Cranes we expected initial mortality would be high (40 to 60%) and that predation would be the major source of mortality.                                                       

During the first 2 release years, annual mortality averaged 66%, with predation by bobcats being the major cause. The third year a decision was made, in consultation with USFWS, to try something new at the rearing sites.

The goal was to introduce birds into habitat that favored cranes but not predators. We began using smaller, temporary release pens made of lightweight plastic that could be quickly erected and taken down.  This allowed use of the most suitable habitat for introductions based on marsh and pasture conditions.  We could respond as water levels and habitat conditions changed through the release period.

A major component of this new approach was cooperation by local private landowners, because the most appropriate crane habitat was often on their lands.  In 1995 and 1996 we released 64 birds on 6  privately owned sites First year survival using this new method averaged 70%. Minus cooperation by private landowners this exceptional improvement in survival would not have occurred.

Drought and bobcat predation has been the major problems faced by Whooping Cranes in Florida. Drought that has impacted Florida from 1998 to 2002 increased effects of predation and reduced nesting efforts of reintroduced Whooping Cranes and Florida Sandhill Cranes.

The reintroduced Whooping Cranes began nesting in 1999.  Since then we have documented 17 nesting attempts. In the 2003 nesting season we monitored 6 nests, five of which hatched 1 or more chicks.  One of the first chicks fledged on 7 June 2002 became the first of a second generation of non-migratory whooping cranes in Florida.  This historic bird, nicknamed Lucky, was also the first bird to be produced by captive reared, wild released, parents.

Currently (as of spring2002) there are 90-98 Whooping Cranes surviving in Florida. With more normal water levels returning, we expect 12 to15 pairs of Whooping Cranes will be nesting in Florida during 2003. The ultimate project goal of 25 pairs of nonmigratory cranes reproducing at a self-sustaining rate in Florida does not seem as far-fetched now as it did in 1993.

The Florida Commission crew is aware that success of this project is the culmination of a broader team effort.                                            

“Lucky” flying with parent in Florida. ***photo by Steve Nesbitt, Florida***

The Whooping Crane Conservation Association has been and integral part since the 1960’s.  The members of WCCA should take a minute to congratulate themselves for the conservation accomplishment that this bird represents.

Wisconsin–Florida Migratory Flock (Synopsis)

View a recent Newsletter Article concerning this flock

The whooping crane is on its way back from the brink of extinction in North America, thanks to extraordinary efforts of Canadian and U.S. conservationists.  In the spring of 2001, the Whooping Crane Eastern Partnership (WCEP) moved forward under direction of the International Whooping Crane Recovery Team, to implement a program that teaches migration routes to precocial birds. Based on previous success with Sandhill cranes, ultralight aircraft are being used to reintroduce a migratory flock of Whooping Cranes to Eastern North America.

This Whooping Crane reintroduction is a cooperative effort of many public and private partners comprising WCEP. Ultralight aircraft are flown by costumed pilots leading young Whooper chicks from their fledging area at the Necedah National Wildlife Refuge (NWR) in central Wisconsin to a vast salt marsh at the Chassahowitzka NWR on Florida's gulf coast. The ultimate goal is to reintroduce enough birds to the flyway to establish a self-sustaining flock containing at least 25 adult breeding pairs by 2020.

Presently there are 418 Whooping ranes in North America.  In 2003, the only self-sustaining wild population consisted of 184 birds that winter in Aransas NWR on the gulf coast of Texas and summer in Wood Buffalo National Park in Canada.  This wild population represents almost half of the total population; concentrated in one area, the flock could be wiped out by disease, natural disaster, or human causes such as an oil or chemical spill.

Twenty-one Whooping Cranes comprise the current (2003) Wisconsin–Florida migratory population.  Future Whooping Crane survival may depend on the re-establishment of this eastern North America flock and a sustainable nonmigratory flock in Central Florida. The US and Canada are working cooperatively towards recovering the species in portions of its historical range by creating these two additional separate populations. There are 118 captive Whooping Cranes in North America, many of which are part of planned propagation efforts.  The non-migratory flock consists of approximately 95 wild birds on the Kissimmee Prairie of central Florida.

The International Whooping Crane Recovery Team was established in 1985, with five Canadian and five U.S. biologists leading the way.  In order to establish the second migratory flock of cranes in eastern North America, the WCEP was formed in 1999. WCEP is a partnership of 9 federal/state agencies and non-profit groups. Of course, this partnership extends beyond this number because the huge scope of this migration requires united efforts spanning 20 states, seven of which lie in the migration corridor. Approximately 30 private, state, and federal properties are used as stopover points for the birds, project aircraft, and personnel, but there are closer to 60 potential stopover points established along the migration route. This is only possible through private donations of funds, lands, services, and personnel by conservation-minded citizens.

First Experimental Migration 2000: The choice of the ultralight is significant because it is only aircraft that can fly slowly enough for birds to follow. A craft made of wire, strut, and fabric weighing 150 to 360 pounds, it can fly as slowly as 30 miles per hour, yet can attain 50 mph when necessary.

WCEP conducted a test project in the summer of 2000 using captive-reared Sandhill crane chicks from Necedah NWR. Rearing techniques and migration logistics were worked out and the subsequent migration succeeded in covering 1,250 miles to Florida, making it the longest human-led migration ever. Eleven cranes started in Wisconsin on Oct. 3 and arrived 39 days later at their wintering location, St. Martin’s Marsh Aquatic Preserve, located north of the Chassahowitzka NWR.  The Sandhill cranes subsequently began their unassisted migration north in February, and arrived back “home” in Wisconsin in late April 2001.  These experimental birds have demonstrated wildness and ever since have continued making unassisted migrations. 

Ultralight-led Whooping Crane Migrations 2001 . . . and Beyond: Eight pioneering Whooping Cranes, produced from captive breeding flocks, departed on the 2001 migration from Wisconsin to Florida:  one was killed when it flew into a power line after escaping from its travel pen during a storm and two were lost to bobcat predation on their Florida wintering site.  Five Whoopers successfully migrated back to WI in April 2002.

On Oct. 13, 2002, a WCEP migration team initiated the second ultralight led Whooping Crane migration.  A flock of 17 Whooping Cranes departed on the 1,200- mile journey to the same remote, isolated site on the Chassahowitzka NWR. Then in April 2003 all 21 Whoopers, on their own, began their migration back to Necedah NWR.  By May 2003 all 21 had arrived back in the vicinity of Necedah NWR.

Training each year begins at Patuxent Wildlife Research Center even before hatching by exposing the eggs to crane calls and sounds of the ultralight engines. Once hatched, the chicks imprint on, and are taught to follow the costumed pilot, the “surrogate parent” in the ultralight.  After 40-60 days, they are relocated to Necedah NWR, where they are taught to forage in natural wetlands and water roost in pen enclosures to encourage the birds’ natural behavior.  People wearing baggy “costumes” use crane puppets near the birds. It is critical to the birds’ safety and future survival that the human form and voice not become familiar to them.

To learn the migration route, the young cranes follow ultralight aircraft from Necedah NWR south through 7 of the midwest and eastern United States. Starting in October, the migration flock departs in the early morning hours each day the weather cooperates. The last 2 years have demonstrated that once the cranes are taught the path, they return on their own to Wisconsin each spring.

Ultralight-led Whooping Crane migrations

            ***photo by WCEP***

Over the next 3 years, additional Whooping Cranes will be introduced to the eastern migratory route from Necedah NWR in central Wisconsin to Florida's central West Coast. Although the birds are federally protected from Canada to Mexico, preventing human encroachment on nesting and wintering habitat is crucial to saving this species. It will also take a coordinated effort along the migratory route to find ways to reduce mortality and protect suitable stopover habitat.  Increased public support for the recovery project and awareness of the value of these endangered habitats are critical to the long-term success of the project.

A day in the pen of Citrus County's whooping cranes in Chassahowtizka  National Wildlife Refuge, 02/06/03 - George Hutchens 

Several whooping cranes take flight Wednesday morning from inside of their pen where the birds roost in the Chassahowitzka National Wildlife Refuge. The area inside the refuge is home to 17 of the birds during the wintering months.  The whoopers get all the glory, but Sara Zimorski does the dirty work. She slogs through ankle-deep mud and is pecked by the endangered animals. In other words, she has a blast. To spend a morning with the International Crane Foundation aviculturist is to get as close to the 17 whooping cranes at the Chassahowitzka National Wildlife Refuge as the law allows.

About every day, she swoops down the Chassahowitzka River by airboat to the secluded pen where the whoopers learn to forage and live in the wild. On Wednesday morning, Zimorski clopped across the muddy island, leading a small group to a camouflaged tower near the cranes. Before the morning was through, she had taken notes on their behavior, and entered the pen in white crane suit, establishing herself as the dominant crane to avoid pecking from the pen's real dominator. "As long as you're the tallest, you're in good shape," she said, brushing off the laughs her suit always seems to attract.

She headed out in costume with a bucket of Zeigler zoo animal feed, and was approached by a number of cranes as she entered the pen. She held her decoy crane head high,  however, and most of the territory-conscious animals backed off. In addition to wearing the white suit, Zimorski spends days checking waters near the cranes' pen for salt levels and depths. She keeps a journal and watches the cranes for signs of maturity like  changing color bands. She even listens for changes in their voices. "It's like a teenager's voice changing, almost," she said. 

Most of all, scientists at the refuge keep an eye out for signs of adjustment to the wild. The purpose of the project, after all, is to have a regular migration of wild whoopers. "They're learning to be wild birds," said Zimorski. She explained that their adjustment to the wild is coming along. The birds regularly venture out of their pen, foraging in the river for blue crabs and mollusks. Feed is always available, but Zimorski said the reliable supply won't keep them from migrating north when the time is right. "Whenever they're ready to migrate, they'll just go," she said. Sometimes the birds can be skittish when she arrives, but on Wednesday they were calm, even as the group whispered and made noise in the tower, about 100 yards away.

Scientists like Zimorski owe much of their lifestyle to the extensive partnership between the U.S. National Wildlife Refuge system, the ICF, the Citrus County Audubon Society and the number of other groups that help out by volunteering and other forms of support.  "The project would be impossible without all our partners," said refuge spokesman Shawn Gillette. 

One volunteer from the partnership came along Wednesday. Pat Casselberry works with the International Crane Foundation, Operation Migration, Friends of the Chassahowitzka Wildlife Refuge and U.S. Fish & Wildlife Services. She got a glimpse at the cranes. "I get excited every time," she said. The cranes were led by ultralight aircraft to the refuge last year from the Necedah National Wildlife Refuge in Wisconsin. The project is designed to show the endangered birds, which were hatched in captivity, the right migration path and restore the species' population in North America.

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Recent History of Whooping Cranes in the Rocky Mountains

The first experimental effort to establish a second migratory population of Whooping Cranes began in 1975. Whooping Crane eggs from the wild and captivity were placed in nests of Sandhill Cranes in southeastern Idaho. The Sandhill Crane foster parents raised the Whooping Crane chicks and led them in migration to their wintering sites in New Mexico. Using this technique called "cross-fostering", from 1975 through 1988, 289 eggs were transferred and 85 chicks fledged. Unfortunately, the Whooping Cranes were improperly sexually imprinted on Sandhill Cranes, the foster parent species, and would not breed with one another. The Whooping Crane Recovery Team then began to search for another technique for use in establishing a migratory population. The last surviving wild cross-fostered Whooping Crane died in the spring of 2002.

William Lishman worked with Canada Geese in an effort to develop a technique that would be useful in establishing a migratory population of cranes. From 1993 to 1995 he was the first to lead captive-reared Canada Geese, with an ultralight aircraft, in migration from Ontario, Canada, to Virginia and South Carolina. These historic first flights with geese were successful and the geese returned unassisted to Ontario in their first spring seasons.

Kent Clegg, a rancher, biologist, and pilot, had assisted on the cross-fostering project for many years. Drawing from that experience he proposed to lead captive-reared Sandhill Cranes in migration using an ultralight aircraft. The primary purpose of the research was to test the technique's suitability for establishing another migratory population of Whooping Cranes. He hoped the technique could be used to continue the reintroduction effort in the Rocky Mountains. In 1995 and 1996 he led the historic first migrations of Sandhill Cranes, 750 miles from Idaho to New Mexico, using an ultralight aircraft. The following year in 1997, Bill Lishman led Sandhill Cranes in migration, guiding them from Ontario to Virginia.

In subsequent springs the Sandhill Cranes trained by Kent Clegg migrated back to Idaho unassisted. Based on the initial success, in 1997 Mr. Clegg led Sandhill Cranes and 4 Whooping Cranes along the same migration route from Idaho to New Mexico. This was the historic first ultralight-led migration of an endangered species. The Whooping Cranes responded in the same way as Sandhill Cranes and the surviving birds returned to their natal area without human assistance.

The Whooping Crane Recovery Team then evaluated areas in North America where the ultralight technique could be used to establish another migratory population of Whooping Cranes. Eventually the choices were narrowed to three areas, the Rocky Mountains, and routes from Wisconsin to Florida or Wisconsin to Louisiana. The Wisconsin to Florida route was their final choice. A primary reason for not continuing the project in the Rocky Mountains was the opposition of the Game and Fish Commissions of Idaho and Wyoming to further releases of Whooping Cranes in their states. They felt the presence of Whooping Cranes would jeopardize their hunting seasons for Sandhill Cranes. The State Wildlife Agencies in the East were cooperative and supportive of the experimental introduction being held in their areas.

The Whooping Crane Recovery Team was also concerned that mortality of Whooping Cranes had been high in the Rocky Mountains during the cross-fostering project. They hoped that Whooping Cranes would survive better in the Eastern site. Bill Lishman was selected to lead the migration training for Whooping Cranes in the East. Whooping Cranes were led from Wisconsin to Florida in the fall of 2001. That project is continuing and if successful in establishing a self-sustaining population it is hoped the Whooping Crane Recovery Team will select the Rocky Mountains for a future reintroduction effort.

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