Eighteen young whooping cranes were killed during the major storm that swept through central Florida Thursday night. These young cranes - the Class of 2006 - were the latest of six cohorts to be led by ultralight trikes from a refuge in Necedah, Wisconsin to the Chassahowitzka National Wildlife Refuge in Florida. My deepest condolences to the staff and volunteers at Operation Migration, dedicated people in Canada and in the United States who have worked tirelessly for years in an effort to establish a second migratory flock of the endangered Whooping Crane.
Some background information on the project - by the 1940's, the never abundant population of Whooping Cranes had dropped to a low of fifteen migratory birds and a handful of non-migratory birds. Most of these beautiful birds wintered in Aransas, Texas, migrating north to a then unknown site to raise their young before once more heading south in the fall. With protection, their numbers slowly increased and, by chance, their summer territory in Canada was discovered in the isolated Wood Buffalo National Park. Their winter territory in Texas is, however, not so hospitable. There they must share the wetlands with tankers loaded with oil and neigboring refineries belching who-knows-what. A single spill could wipe out the flock, which now numbers over 200 birds.
With the single flock so vulnerable, the decision was made to attempt to establish other populations. Much has been learned about the captive breeding of cranes through the work at the International Crane Foundation and the Patuxent Wildlife Research Center. Some of you may recognize the Patuxent, MD location as the place where the Shrub goes to get his cycling fix. Some of you may also be familar with the work of Bill Lishman, a Canadian sculptor and ultra-light pioneer who became known through the movie Fly Away Home, which was based on his experience teaching Canada Geese to follow his trike.
First, a bit more on Lishman's efforts, from the Operation Migration site.
Since childhood, co-founder Bill Lishman dreamed of flying with birds. He got closer to his dream as a grown-up, when he became an avid ultralight aviator. Then, one fateful night he and his family traveled to Toronto to see the IMAX film, "Skyward." As Lishman watched the geese in the film follow a boat, he wondered if they would also follow an airplane?
The film's animal trainer, William Carrick, had the answer Lishman wanted. With Carrick's help, Lishman began working with the geese since, as non-endangered species, they posed fewer technical and environmental risks.
And the rest, literally, was history. In 1988, Lishman lead 12 geese on local flights. Then, in 1994, he and partner Joseph Duff helped 18 geese migrate from Ontario to Virginia.
Reaching his childhood dream gave Lishman a new focus. He and Duff formed Operation Migration for another dream: to save endangered species by introducing safe migratory routes.
During the same time period, the Whooping Crane Recovery Team was formed, consisting of biologists and ornithologists, five each from the US and Canada, whose responsibility it is to advise the US Fish & Wildlife Service and the Canadian Wildlife Service on protecting the Aranas/Wood Buffalo flock and establishing two new flocks.
The team's efforts to establish a non-migratory Whooping crane flock began in Florida in 1993, using cranes hatched in captivity. In September, 1999, after searching for the best possible location to establish a second migratory flock, the team recommended that the flock be taught a migration route with central Wisconsin as the northern terminus and the west coast of Florida as the new wintering location. The WCRT sanctioned Operation Migration's ultralight-led migration technique as the main reintroduction method.
To turn this dream into reality, the Whooping Crane Eastern Partnership was formed, defined as a of coalition "Non-profit organizations, individuals and government agencies joining forces to bring a migratory flock of whooping cranes back to eastern North America." And it has been a partnership - across national boundaries, state borders, multiple agencies, generous individuals and supportive industries.
The young cranes were to be hatched at Patuxent from eggs gathered from captive pairs there and at several other locations, moved to Necedah NWR where they would learn to fly behind ultralight trikes. (The youngsters would already be familiar with the sounds of the engines from recordings played to the eggs before they hatched.) When ready, the birds and ultralights would take off for Florida, with the hope that the birds would learn the migration route as if led by feathered parents. Four years of practice with leading small groups of the much more common Sandhill Crane chicks convinced the WCRT that it was time to begin working with Whoopers in 2001.
Training of eight young cranes by their costumed handlers went well, although flight training was grounded briefly after 9/11. Their flight south, over 1,200 miles in 48 days, was an adventure shared vicariously by many around the world through the daily evocative online postings in OM's 2001 Field Journal. At a time of national and, for me, personal, sadness, this project represented the best of what humanity can achieve, through cooperation and care of the world in which we live.
The birds wintered in a prepared area at Chassahowitzka NWR, where they were provided food and fresh water while they learned to feed on crabs and other abundant resources. In the spring, everybody held their collective breath while waiting to see if the cranes would be able to reverse their southward migration. Finally, on April 10th, the five surviving birds, responding to unknown clues, circled over their winter home and headed north. One independent female soon split off on her own, while the other four continued on together. (The birds could be followed from the ground and the air via small transmittors attached to their legs.) As reported in the field journal, nine days after taking off from Florida,
Earlier this evening at 6:36pm, four Whooping cranes descended upon a marshy area less than a half-mile from the location where they first experienced flight with our ultralight aircraft. For those of you that have followed along from the beginning of the training season early last summer the spot where the cranes landed is known as "Site two." Late this afternoon the cranes were airborne, despite the persistent north wind. It was as if they were determined to reach the refuge... They headed north, into the wind and at one point it looked like they might over shoot their destination, then just as it appeared the might be heading toward Canada, they veered left and west, heading straight for Necedah.
In the following years, increasingly larger cohorts of birds have been led south by their surrogate parents, stopping over in pre-arranged landing spots in WI, IL, IL, IN, KY, TN and GA (where they have been viewed remotely several times by a bird loving former President.) Photos taken from the airborne trikes each fall are a reminder of how beautiful our country is and how valuable each open parcel. (2004 migration photos) Each spring has seen the number of northward bound Whooping Cranes increase. Finally, in 2006, the success of the project became visible, with the hatching and rearing of the first chick born in the wild east of the Mississippi in over one hundred years.
That First Family migrated south to Florida together last fall. No word yet if they survived the storm. The fate of last summer's captive hatched chicks is, unfortunately, known. Whether a tidal storm surge trapped them in their pen or a lightening strike killed them has yet to be determined. My heart goes out to all of those who spent months raising, training and leading the eighteen youngsters south.
Update [2007-2-4 19:54:1 by RainyDay]: One crane from the Class of 2006 has been located alive, several miles from the pen site. 615, a male, must have been able to escape from the netted pen during the storm. He was tracked via his radio transmitter. He was seen in good habitat, hanging out with two Sandhill cranes.