Even though 2012 is less than three weeks old, it's already been a turbulent year for whooping cranes. After the shooting of a crane in Indiana in late December and the Federal Aviation Administration grounding the ultralight Operation Migration flight in northern Alabama, the prospects are looking a bit better now for these endangered birds. According to CNN, the FAA cleared the birds for takeoff with a one time exemption to allow them to continue their migratory flight. The agency has pledged to work with Operation Migration to find a permanent solution that will allow the migration flights to continue annually.The world's only flock of wild, naturally migrating whooping cranes, however, faces additional difficulties. According to USA Today, the ongoing drought in Texas has devastated the cranes' food supplies, and at least one crane has already died. Starvation and a low-protein diet may be a problem for the birds this year, making it more difficult for them to migrate safely for the breeding season in Canada. Frantic steps are being taken to help the birds survive more easily, but the success will be difficult to gauge until after the breeding season.
Whooping cranes are the largest crane species in North America, and in the 1940s, the birds had been so decimated by hunting and DDT poisoning that fewer than 20 birds remained. Today, there are roughly 300 birds in the self-sustaining wild flock, plus a smaller, closely monitored flock as part of the Operation Migration project.
Texas Drought
Photo © Earl McGehee
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