Some old threads
Fla. storms killed all 18 whooping cranes led south by ultralight
Whooping crane pairs nesting at refuge-Whooping cranes return to Wisconsin
Posted on 04/20/2008 6:03:58 AM PDT by Diana in Wisconsin
(After millions of dollars and seven years, the Necedah National Wildlife Refuge still faces many challenges in its work to reintroduce the rare whooping crane.)
Necedah, WI - A record six pairs of whooping cranes have been seen incubating eggs this month on Necedah National Wildlife Refuge, ground zero in the effort to reintroduce the rarest of all the world's cranes.
But after seven years and more than $10 million, the cranes continue to struggle. The project remains a work in progress with only one whooping crane born in the wild in the eastern United States since 2001.
Experts say the next few years will be critical if this icon of America's endangered species is to make a successful comeback. As another breeding season begins, scientists are looking for reasons behind the dearth of whoopers born in the wild.
"Productivity is extremely poor right now," said Tom Stehn, whooping crane coordinator for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. "We're concerned about it."
The birds are slow to reach maturity, and the young adults might be struggling with parenthood.
There are also ecological questions. Among the issues researchers are sorting through is the quality of habitat in central Wisconsin, where first-year birds are led 1,250 miles by ultralight aircraft to their wintering grounds in Florida.
The cranes - the tallest in North America - still have time to rebound. But their struggle illustrates the difficulty in reintroducing a species, even when extraordinary measures are used.
There are only 380 whoopers in existence, the fewest of the 15 species of crane in the world. Conservationists are working to establish the eastern migratory flock, which now totals 74, at Necedah and on Florida's Gulf Coast. Before the reintroduction, whooping cranes were last known to be in Wisconsin in 1878, victims of over-hunting and habitat loss.
Two hundred and sixty-six whooping cranes live along the Texas coast and migrate in the spring to northern Alberta and the Northwest Territories of Canada. It is the only self-sustaining group of whoopers in the world.
The population this spring is at a high point since almost disappearing in the 1940s. But experts worry about the western cranes as well.
A catastrophic event such as a hurricane could destroy the world's only naturally occurring flock when they are in Texas at the Aransas National Wildlife Refuge.
They originate from only six to eight birds in the 1940s, meaning their tiny gene pool could harm reproduction in the future.
The Aransas refuge also relies on freshwater from rivers, and Texas water law doesn't guarantee supplies will be available in the future.
But life for a whooping crane in Wisconsin is more tenuous.
The only successful hatch occurred in June 2006 at Necedah, the first in the wild in the eastern United States in more than 100 years. Last spring, four pairs of the ground-nesting birds deserted their eggs in a 24-hour period, a practice that has happened in other years.
And in February 2007, a year's worth of work was lost when 17 of 18 first-year cranes died during a storm surge in the Chassahowitzka National Wildlife Refuge in Florida. The surviving crane was killed afterward, probably by a predator.
"The ultimate goal is to have a self-sustaining population of whooping cranes," said Michael Putnam, curator of birds at the International Crane Foundation in Baraboo, a key partner in the project. "Right now the population is not sustainable."
Cranes are also hurt by slow reproduction. A whooping crane produces only two eggs a year, while a bald eagle, for example, might lay six or eight. The cranes don't start laying eggs until they're 5 years old, on average.
The birds were never dominant on the landscape. Only 1,400 existed in 1860.
"Things could improve in the next few years," said Stehn, who is based at Aransas. "If they don't improve, then we have problems."
John Christian, another Fish and Wildlife Service official, urged patience.
"One of the hypotheses is that we are dealing with teenage parents," said Christian, assistant regional director of migratory birds and state programs at Fort Snelling, Minn. "The birds need to reach full maturity."
But with lackluster results to date, the Whooping Crane Eastern Partnership, a group of public and private organizations managing the crane's comeback, is looking for ways to improve its prospects.
The cost of protecting all North American whooping cranes could total $125 million in public and private dollars by 2035, according to a plan released in March by the Fish and Wildlife Service and the Canadian Wildlife Service.
Thus far, Christian said the average of $1.5 million in annual spending comes from 60% private and 40% public sources. Questions about locations
Putnam said scientists are wondering whether the broad swath of wetlands at Necedah might lack an adequate supply of food - mollusks and crustaceans, insects, minnows, frogs and snakes - for the cranes.
Water is plentiful now as the century-old system of ditches fills marshes with snowmelt on old farmland that played out in the 1930s. But last summer's drought didn't help.
"It might come down to environmental limitations," Putnam said. "Do they have enough food to reproduce effectively?"
The partnership chose the 43,656-acre Necedah refuge for relocation in the late 1990s over other locations, including the Horicon Marsh. Necedah's main advantages were its relative isolation, the absence of crane-killing power lines and the abundance of clean water, according to Larry Wargowsky, manager of the refuge. The refuge also is close to the crane foundation and its staff of experts.
Chassahowitzka presents potential problems too.
"Florida I have major concerns with," Stehn said. "Periodic droughts, a lot of development. We are losing wetlands."
The partnership is considering splitting the flock and sending some of the first-year cranes to Louisiana instead.
"There are an infinite amount of wetlands down there, so it makes perfect sense," Stehn said. Raised by humans
Another question is whether the cranes' reproductive behavior could be influenced by the way the birds have been brought up. Cranes in captivity are raised not by their parents, but by humans wearing crane costumes.
George Archibald, co-founder of the crane foundation and one of the world's leading figures in crane conservation, has pushed for letting parents raise their own chicks.
"These birds are very nervous about people," he said in 2006 after learning he had won the inaugural $100,000 Indianapolis Prize for his work with cranes. "It hasn't been done yet, but I hope that we can do it so that we can get the population growing faster."
Others, including the Fish and Wildlife Service, favor a captive management program because it gives the partnership the advantage of more control, Stehn said.
Stanley A. Temple, emeritus professor of wildlife ecology and conservation biology at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, said he sees features of the project that have hampered reintroductions of other troubled species.
For example, cranes are being reintroduced on the periphery of their historical breeding grounds - the center of the current breeding range is northern Canada at the Wood Buffalo National Park, Temple said.
Also, he sees problems in having so few birds released every year. Studies of 421 introductions of mammals and birds around the world by Temple and colleagues showed that small releases often fail.
It is still too early to properly evaluate the program, Temple said. But the chances of success could improve by releasing more birds, which would require increased production at captive breeding venues.
Additional birds could be released each year if the partnership relied more on the direct release of birds, rather than on the ultralight program. Using aircraft limits the number of birds that can be led south. 'Just a waiting game'
This year, the partnership hopes to release as many as 28 cranes at Necedah, according to Joan Garland, outreach coordinator for the crane foundation. Ten or 12 of them could be released directly - the most ever - to follow older whooping cranes or the sandhill cranes that older whoopers are likely to associate with.
It was Archibald who saw a video of geese following behind ultralights and thought the same approach could be used for cranes. The southerly migration enables them to return on their own.
The logistics of building the flock are elaborate and costly. At Necedah, juveniles are drilled on three grass landing strips to follow the ultralights, building up their skill and stamina until they make their inaugural migration south. The birds and aircraft can spend months hop-scotching their way south, followed by a support crew and radio trackers.
Eggs and chicks are ferried from breeding facilities in places such as Patuxent Wildlife Research Center in Maryland on a private jet owned by Sheboygan businessman Terry Kohler, a longtime crane supporter.
Cranes that fly off course are occasionally captured and flown back to Wisconsin.
In the end, the partnership hopes to build the population at Necedah to 125 birds, with birds breeding on their own.
"It's just a waiting game," Stehn said.
Midwest Ping-Worthy?
Some old threads
Fla. storms killed all 18 whooping cranes led south by ultralight
Whooping crane pairs nesting at refuge-Whooping cranes return to Wisconsin
Thanks for the ping, Diana.
I’ve been reading about these for years, and hope they survive and multiply.
Interesting article, pics, and links. Thanks!
Great news, now can we send you the rest of them?
Thanks for the ping, SJ. Cool photos and links.
“...now can we send you the rest of them?”
Only if you take the Canada Geese in trade, LOL!
We get those every winter too! LOL
They are pretty, but very noisy, messy birds.
We live across from a lake, so we have lots of Sandhill Crane in our fields and in our yard when they’re on the move for the summer months.
I have seen the Whooping Cranes up close, but at a preserve/rehab center, not in the wild.
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