Whooping Cranes Safely Complete Migration

Sixteen endangered whooping cranes that left the Midwest this fall have safely made it to a wildlife refuge in Florida. The birds are part of a reintroduction experiment. And this is the first time that all the cranes made the trip safely. The Great Lakes Radio Consortium’s Chuck Quirmbach reports:

Transcript

Sixteen endangered whooping cranes that left the Midwest this fall have
safely made it to a wildlife refuge in Florida. The birds are part of a
re-introduction experiment. And this is the first time that all the cranes
made the trip safely. The Great Lakes Radio Consortium’s Chuck Quirmbach
reports:


For three years, the Whooping Crane Eastern Partnership has been using
ultralight aircraft to lead young whoopers from Wisconsin to Florida. A bird
died during each of the previous migrations. This year no bird had to be
euthanized , although one injured crane made the first part of the trip in a
van.


Heather Ray is with Operation Migration, one of several groups working
together to create the only migrating flock of whooping cranes in the
eastern U.S. Ray is very happy about the latest developments.


“I mean, we’re ecstatic that every bird made the flight. You know, every bird
is priceless, as far as we’re concerned, and we’re always saddened when we
lose one.”


Almost all the cranes that completed the two previous years of migrations
have joined the newest group at the Florida refuge. There are now
thirty-six cranes on site. The recovery project’s goal is a flock of 125
migrating birds by the year 2020, including 25 nesting pairs.


For the Great Lakes Radio Consortium, I’m Chuck Quirmbach.

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