Whooping cranes hatch in Louisiana for first time since 1930s

[Cara J]

A few years ago, biologists in Louisiana — covered from head to toe in white whooping crane costumes — released juvenile whoopers into the White Lake Wetlands Conservation Area in southwestern Louisiana. This past April, roughly five years after the reintroduction, two chicks hatched on a private property in Jefferson Davis Parish nearby the conservation area making it the first time since the 1930s that a whooping crane (Grus americana) chick has hatched in Louisiana. Unfortunately, one of the chicks disappeared — likely eaten by a predator. “We were pleased to see the parents had raised both chicks till one month,” said Sara Zimorski, a biologist with the Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries. “We’re disappointed one was lost but that gives the remaining chick an edge so the parents can focus in on one chick.” Louisiana Whooping crane chicks when they first hatched. ©Sara Zimorski/Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries. Although Louisiana was once home to healthy populations of whooping cranes, they disappeared from Louisiana by 1950 as a result of habitat loss and overhunting. The birds were listed as endangered under the Endangered Species Act in 1967 and despite suggestions to reintroduce the species back to Louisiana as [...]

 

Read more: http://wildlife.org/whooping-cranes-hatch-in-louisiana-for-first-time-since-1930s/