Newsgroups: bit.listserv.biosph-l
Date:         Tue, 29 Sep 1992 18:57:07 EDT
Reply-To:     "Norman C. Saunders" <NYS@NIHCU.BITNET>
From:         "Norman C. Saunders" <NYS@NIHCU.BITNET>
Subject:      Good Year For Whooping Cranes, Says F&WS

Fish and Wildlife Service
For Release: September 25, 1992


Georgia Parham  202-208-5634
Jim Lewis       505-766-3972


                       Record Year For Whoopers:
                   Crane Numbers On The Rise In 1992


     Record production  among endangered  whooping cranes  means more of
the rare  birds will  make the 2,500-mile trek from Canada to Texas this
fall, according  to the  Department of  the  Interior's  U.S.  Fish  and
Wildlife Service.

     The Service expects about 145 whooping cranes to migrate from nest-
ing grounds  in Canada to spend the winter in and around the Aransas Na-
tional Wildlife  Refuge along  the Texas  Gulf Coast.  The number of mi-
grating cranes is up from 1991 when high losses and poor nesting success
resulted in  only 132 birds making the journey, the first population de-
cline since 1980.

     This year,  cool spring  weather made for improved water conditions
in Canada's  Northwest Territories,  where the  rare birds nest.  Biolo-
gists found  that a record 40 pairs nested this year, producing an esti-
mated 35  young.   Fifteen to 20 chicks survived and are expected to at-
tempt the long migration, compared to only eight in 1991.

     "With a  species as rare as the whooping crane, it's encouraging to
see the  balance tip  in its  favor," said Service Director John Turner.
"Because of  their extremely low numbers, the survival of these magnifi-
cent birds is precarious.  Even a seemingly small increase in population
is very good news.

     Reduced to  only 16 birds in 1941, the whooping crane population is
making a  slow comeback.  The total whooping crane population, including
92 captive birds, stands at about 250, the highest since the birds began
to recover.    Captive  breeding  programs  at  the  Service's  Patuxent
Wildlife Research  Center in  Laurel, Maryland,  and  the  International
Crane Foundation in Baraboo, Wisconsin, have produced a record 27 chicks
in 1992.

     Whoopers in  the wild begin their journey in September and October,
travelling for  several weeks  before reaching  the Texas  coast.  Their
route takes them through Alberta and Saskatchewan and the states of Mon-
tana, North  and South  Dakota, Nebraska,  Kansas, Oklahoma,  and Texas.
Along the  way, whoopers  encounter hazards such as power lines, fences,
threat of disease, vandal shooters, and human disturbance while roosting
and feeding.

     Hunters, photographers, farmers, and others along the cranes' route
are asked  to keep  an eye out for the big birds and ensure they are not
disturbed.   Adult whoopers  are white  withy black  wingtips and  a red
forehead.   They fly  with necks straight forward and legs extending be-
yond the  tail.   Adults stand  about 5  feet tall  and sport  a  7-foot
wingspan.   Young birds  are white  and rusty brown with black wingtips.
Anyone spotting  a whooping crane is urged to contact local wildlife of-
ficials.

====================================================================

This  press release has been brought  to you compliments of The Osprey's
Nest, a computer  bulletin board for  birders and other amateur natural-
ists in the  Washington, DC  area.  The Osprey's Nest  may be reached 24
hours per day at 301-989-9036 and answers the phone at 300-9600 baud.

The Osprey's Nest is not associated  in any way with the U.S. Department
of the Interior  or with  the U.S. Fish and  Wildlife Service.  Opinions
expressed in these press releases are not  necessarily those of the sys-
tem operator of The Osprey's Nest.
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