Hi all,
Here's one small glimmer of good news from this tragic story:
http://www.sptimes.com/2007/02/05/Citrus/Maverick_crane_surviv.shtml
dave
--- In "Martyn Stewart" <>
wrote:
>
> This is very sad news indeed..
>
>
> Central Florida storms kill flock of endangered whooping cranes
>
>
> BY JAMES A. CARLSON
>
> ASSOCIATED PRESS
>
> MILWAUKEE -- All 18 endangered young whooping cranes that were led south
> from Wisconsin last fall as part of a project to create a second
migratory
> flock of the birds were killed in storms in Florida, a spokesman said.
>
> The cranes were being kept in an enclosure at the Chassahowitzka
National
> Wildlife Refuge near Crystal River, Fla., when violent storms moved in
> Thursday night, said Joe Duff, co-founder of Operation Migration, the
> organization coordinating the project.
>
> "The birds were checked in late afternoon the day before, and they were
> fine," he said Friday.
>
> The area of the enclosure was unreachable by workers at night, and
all the
> birds were found dead, Duff said. He speculated that a strong storm
surge
> drew the tide in and overwhelmed the birds. The official cause of
the deaths
> was not immediately known, but he said it may have been drowning.
>
> The thunderstorms and at least one tornado that hit central Florida
caused
> widespread damage and killed at least 19 people.
>
> For the past six years, whooping cranes hatched in captivity have been
> raised at the Necedah National Wildlife Refuge in central Wisconsin by
> workers who wear crane-like costumes to keep the birds wary of humans.
>
> Ultralight aircraft are used to teach new groups of young cranes the
> migration route to Florida. From then on, the birds migrate north in the
> spring and south in the fall on their own.
>
> Duff described the loss as an "unavoidable disaster" for the
whooping cranes
> project that ironically followed a milestone.
>
> For the first time in six years, an entire group of young birds
reared at
> the Necedah refuge had made it to the Florida refuge without the
loss of a
> single crane.
>
> The project's previous losses all involved individual birds killed by
> predators or fatally injured in accidents.
>
> "It's a fluke. It's an unforeseen thing," Duff said. "So many birds
and they
> were such good birds. It was our hardest migration and our most
difficult
> one to fund."
>
> The various groups and agencies working on the project had seen the
size of
> the flock grow to 81 birds with the latest arrivals, but the loss of the
> young cranes drops the total back to 63, and there may have been
additional
> losses.
>
> Duff said there was no way of knowing whether other whooping cranes that
> winter in the area had survived the storm.
>
> Operation Migration is part of the Whooping Crane Eastern Partnership.
> Partnership officials and Duff said the work would continue.
>
> Members of the whooping crane recovery team were meeting in
Louisiana when
> the Florida storm occurred, going over the past year's progress and
setting
> goals for this year, when they learned what had happened, Duff said.
>
> After the initial shock, "it just reinforced the support and
determination
> to get this done," he said.
>
> The whooping crane, the tallest bird in North America, was near
extinction
> in 1941, with only about 20 left.
>
> The other wild whooping crane flock in North America has about 200
birds and
> migrates from Canada to the Texas Gulf Coast. A non-migratory flock in
> Florida has about 60 birds.
>
> Martyn
>
> ****************************************
>
> Martyn Stewart
>
> Bird and Animal Sounds Digitally Recorded at:
>
> http://www.naturesound.org
>
> Redmond. Washington. USA
>
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>
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>
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>
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