鈥楾his is a great story鈥�: Whooping cranes make a comeback
| Irving, Texas
Last month, on a pair of rice and crawfish fields in southeast Texas, mounds of vegetation a few feet tall made modern history. The mounds were nests, built over the course of several days by two pairs of whooping cranes from Louisiana.
鈥淗istorically there probably were whooping cranes nesting in Texas, but it鈥檚 been an awful long time since that鈥檚 happened,鈥� says Wade Harrell, whooping crane recovery coordinator at the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.
鈥淭hey鈥檙e resilient, and they can use a variety of different habitats,鈥� he adds. 鈥淭he species is on a comeback.鈥澛�
Why We Wrote This
Finding the right rules of engagement between people and animals is key to bringing endangered species back to healthy numbers. One corner of the Gulf Coast is trying to get it right.
That鈥檚 cause for cautious optimism among conservation groups and government agencies that have been working for years 鈥� increasingly in partnership with private landowners 鈥� to bring the species back from the brink of extinction.聽
The endangered whooping crane 鈥� North America鈥檚 tallest bird 鈥� last laid eggs in Texas in the late 1800s, it鈥檚 believed. Back then, the bird鈥檚 mournful, croaking call was聽widespread on the continent. Every spring they would migrate from the Gulf Coast to nesting grounds in the northern United States and Canada, returning to the Gulf every winter.
But by World War II, there were fewer than 20 wild whooping cranes left, due to overhunting and the conversion of wetlands to farmland in the American Midwest.
Cranes make a comeback
Reintroduction efforts have made slow but steady progress. Globally, whooping cranes now number over 800, according to the International Crane Foundation (ICF). Among the in the U.S. are a migratory group that overwinter in and around the Aransas National Wildlife Refuge near Corpus Christi, Texas, and a nonmigratory group that was reintroduced to a marshland conservation area in southwest Louisiana in 2011.
Whooping cranes prefer to live in big, shallow, freshwater marshes. They鈥檙e vulnerable to predators and take a relatively long time to reproduce, not reaching adulthood for several years. Then, they have to find a mate for life, and many cranes are often unsuccessful with their first nests. It can take years for a pair to successfully raise a chick.
鈥淓verything with whooping cranes takes time,鈥� says Sara Zimorski, a biologist with the Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries. 鈥淪o we鈥檙e still somewhat on the front end of this whole thing.鈥�
鈥淭here are challenges and things that need to improve, but we鈥檙e seeing some progress,鈥� she adds.聽
The two pairs that nested in Texas this year crossed the border from Louisiana. Their nests weren鈥檛 successful 鈥� membrane and eggshell pieces on one nest suggest a chick hatched but didn鈥檛 live very long, according to Ms. Zimorski. But because both pairs were nesting for the first time, it wasn鈥檛 that surprising, she says.
鈥淭hey get better with age and experience,鈥� she adds. 鈥淗opefully even a little experience with hatching a chick will give them a boost in the future.鈥�
Calibrating crane and human interactions
Challenges do remain. People have shot and killed 14 cranes in the Louisiana group, which for a population of about 75 is a sizable loss. Public awareness and education are priorities for local conservationists and government agencies moving forward.
As whooping cranes become more numerous, they will inevitably come into closer contact with humans,聽with some choosing to settle on private land. To encourage a welcoming environment for the birds, a provides financial and technical assistance if landowners agree to preserve part of their land as wildlife habitat. Rules of engagement have to be clearly laid out, experts say, particularly during the sensitive spring nesting period.
鈥淟ike parents ourselves, that early stage is tiring and stressful, but worthwhile in the end,鈥� says Dr. Harrell. 鈥淟et them do their thing so they can raise that next generation.鈥�
Compared with recent history, at least, these are good problems. Young whooping cranes expanding their range means more interactions with humans, but it also means a catastrophic event like a hurricane won鈥檛 wipe out the entire species.
And it鈥檚 evidence that as the whooping crane population recovers, it鈥檚 also adapting to the modern era. Only 10 or 15 years ago, experts thought cranes might restrict themselves to coastal marshes. Now, they鈥檙e overwintering 80 miles from the Gulf and nesting in crawfish farms.
鈥淭he fact that they鈥檝e gotten to this age, have bonded, and are doing what cranes are supposed to do, that鈥檚 just a milestone. It鈥檚 just fantastic,鈥� says Liz Smith, ICF鈥檚 North America program director, based near Corpus Christi.
ICF has focused in recent years on raising public awareness of the migratory group that overwinters near the Texas Gulf Coast. Now, as that population expands up the coast toward Houston, ICF is expanding its operations up the coast as well. This year it hired its first staff member in Louisiana. 鈥淚t鈥檚 not inconceivable,鈥� says Dr. Smith, that the Texas group and the Louisiana group 鈥渨ill meet and overlap, which would be a great conservation success.鈥�
As exciting as that prospect may be, it鈥檚 worth reflecting on how far whooping cranes have come, says Jeffrey Wozniak, an ecosystem ecologist at Sam Houston State University. The Texas population has doubled since he started researching it 14 years ago. A species that numbered under two dozen has increased roughly fiftyfold in 80 years.
鈥淚t shows you what hard work and good collaboration can result in,鈥� adds Dr. Wozniak. 鈥淭his is a great story.鈥�
