Photo by Steve Hilderbrand, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Services.

For many years, Field Biology students have visited the Aransas National Wildlife Refuge, wintering grounds for endangered whooping cranes. Reduced to fewer than 20 in the early 1940s, the magnificent five-foot-tall cranes have slowly, slowly increased their numbers, thanks to enormous efforts by wildlife biologists of the United States and Canada. The Aransas flock, the only naturally-formed wild flock, will hopefully increase to 240 during the winter of 2006-2007 when all migrants have arrived. Chicks are born in Canada during the summer, but sometimes that increase is diminished when birds die during their long migration.

Even with heroic efforts for the past 60+ years, there are still fewer than 500 whooping cranes on earth--one-tenth of the number needed to be taken off the Endangered Species List. Some are in zoos, some are in captive flocks, and some are in flocks established by ingenious methods such as painting ultra-light aircraft to resemble adults and leading migrations of hand-raised chicks to suitable areas.

The more places the cranes can live in their former huge range, the better the chances that the species would survive a disastrous event in any one area. For example, the Aransas Wildlife Refuge is bordered by the Intracoastal Canal, where barges carry potentially toxic chemicals such as benzene daily. Biologists have long been concerned that a chemical spill could be catastrophic for the whooping cranes.

For up-to-date information about the whooping cranes, visit:

http://whoopers.usgs.gov

Field Biology will not be offered at ACC in Spring, 2007, but hopefully will be in the fall. However, anyone can go see the cranes at the Aransas Refuge every winter before they leave for Canada during March.