Dept. of Game, Fish and Parks
For Immediate Release: Thursday, Aug. 210, 2003
For more information:  George Vandel, 773-4192

WHOOPING CRANES VACATION IN SOUTH DAKOTA

PIERRE - Biologists from the International Crane Foundation and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, in cooperation with the South Dakota Department of Game, Fish and Parks, have returned three endangered whooping cranes to central Wisconsin after the birds recently began roosting and foraging in wetlands in eastern South Dakota.

The wild cranes, all female, are part of a reintroduction project designed to return a migratory flock of this rare species to a portion of its former range in eastern North America. Led by ultralight aircraft flown by Operation Migration pilots, these three cranes, and 13 others, migrated last fall from Wisconsin’s Necedah National Wildlife Refuge to Chassahowitzka NWR on the Gulf Coast of Florida. They returned to Wisconsin on their own this spring.

Most of the cranes spent the summer around central Wisconsin. However, after returning to that area in April, the three females ventured on an exploratory flight that took them west of their summer home, eventually settling near the Coteau Prairie in Deuel County. When this wetland dried in mid-July, the birds relocated to a wetland near Lily in Day County.

One crane was captured the evening of Aug. 17, and the other two were captured the following morning by biologists from the International Crane Foundation, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, field staff from Game, Fish and Parks and landowners on whose property the cranes had taken residence.

Wandering is normal for yearling whooping cranes, however biologists do not want reintroduced eastern cranes to travel too far west where they might mix with the world’s only other wild migratory flock of whooping cranes.

Biologists did not initially retrieve the three young cranes after they were discovered in South Dakota because they wanted to see whether they might return on their own prior to fall migration. A decision to capture the birds was made after they moved farther west, increasing the potential for them to mix with the western birds, or with the mid-continent population of sandhill cranes that migrate through central and eastern South Dakota.

Though mixing between the two flocks was unlikely, biologists felt the three young cranes were too valuable to the reintroduction of an eastern migratory population to take a chance on mixing. Game, Fish and Parks agreed to step in to facilitate the capture.

"South Dakota was been pleased to host these whoopers for the past few months, but it’s time for them to return to where they need to be to continue the historical effort to successfully reintroduce these birds in the eastern U.S.," said George Vandel, assistant director of the Game, Fish and Parks Division of Wildlife.

"The Fish and Wildlife Service appreciates the hospitality of the state of South Dakota in hosting these birds for the past few months," said John Christian, assistant regional director for Migratory Birds and State Programs for the Fish and Wildlife Service’s Great Lakes-Big Rivers Region. "We have had great cooperation from South Dakota Game, Fish and Parks, and we would like to thank them very much for their support and assistance. The whooping crane is a symbol of endangered wildlife conservation in North America, and its successful return to the eastern United States will stimulate additional efforts to conserve wetlands for all birds."

Other cooperators in the relocation include the Whooping Crane Eastern Partnership and the Windway Capital Corporation, which donated a plane and pilot to transport the cranes.

For more information on the project and its partners, visit the WCEP website at: www.bringbackthecranes.org.

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