Whooping Crane

Reasons for Population Decline  

Whooping cranes are one of three Canadian bird species listed as globally endangered by the World Conservation Union. Thanks to a long-term co-operative international conservation effort, these amazing birds have been brought back from the brink of extinction in the 1940s. In the winters of 1941-1942 it was estimated that a flock of 16 whooping cranes was all that remained on the planet (International Crane Foundation, 2006). Now, it is estimated that the whooping crane population has risen to 377 wild and 146 captive individuals (WCCA, 2008). However, while whooping crane numbers are increasing they still remain one of the most threatened crane species in the world.

There are numerous factors that have contributed to the decrease in whooping crane populations. In fact, the decline of the whooping crane can be traced all the way back to the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries when unregulated hunting and collecting of whooping cranes, their feathers and their eggs was commonplace. 

More recently, habitat loss has become one of the more pressing factors influencing the world’s population of whooping cranes. Where they once occupied a much broader geographic range, whooping cranes are now losing habitat as a result of the conversion of native grasslands for agriculture, and the draining of wetlands and coastal marshes. Additional threats to the world’s whooping crane population also include the contamination of waterways and water sources, human development and industrialization, extreme weather occurrences, and disease (Audubon, 2006). 

What We're Doing

The long term survival of this species depends on the development of new wild flocks through conservation breeding programs and reintroduction efforts. The Centre for Conservation Research (CCR) works closely with husbandry and veterinary experts at the Calgary Zoo and the Devonian Wildlife Conservation Center to ensure as many cranes as possible are released successfully into the wild.
Extensive conservation-breeding efforts by the staff at the Calgary Zoo and at two other facilities in the United States play a major role in increasing the world’s population of whooping cranes. However, low egg-hatching success is one of several factors limiting the recovery of this species.
Researchers at the CCR are developing ways to improve whooping crane egg-hatching success in captivity by modeling years of reproductive data and collecting additional data using specially-developed telemetric eggs.
Of the many stages involved in the captive breeding of whooping cranes, incubation is one of the least studied and least understood. So researchers at the CCR have focused their efforts on the following aspects of whooping crane incubation:
1. Eggshell characteristics and hatching success in a captive whooping crane population.

2. Factors that predict the hatching success of fertile whooping crane eggs in a captive population.

3. Microclimates (environment inside the egg) experienced by whooping crane fetuses in artificial and natural incubation environments.

4. Comparing the behaviour of parenting and non-parenting captive adult breeding pairs in both large and small enclosures.

To learn more about the Whooping Crane click here.  

The Whooping Crane Journey

The whooping cranes bred at the Devonian Wildlife Conservation Centre go on a lengthy journey that begins before they have even hatched. All of the whooping crane eggs deemed eligible are included in one of two programs – the Whooping Crane Eastern Partnership (WCEP) or the Direct Autumn Release (DAR). Those deemed ineligible are kept in captive facilities for education. 

The cranes included in the WCEP are shipped to Patuxant Wildlife Research Center in Maryland where the hatched chicks are “costume-reared” until they are 45 days old. During their stay in Patuxant, the birds are also taught to imprint on the ultralight aircraft that will lead them in their migration. The young cranes are then sent to Necedah National Wildlife Refuge in Wisconsin where they continue their training with the aircraft. When migration time arrives, the adolescent whooping cranes will follow the aircraft to their wintering grounds at either the St. Marks Refuge or the Chassahowitzka National Wildlife Refuge in Florida. On their journey south, the cranes will learn their migratory route so that in subsequent years they will be able to find their way between their breeding and wintering grounds unescorted.
The eggs that have been included in the Direct Autumn Release program are sent directly to Necedah. The hatched chicks are reared and then individually released into existing WCEP flocks. This way, the existing populations of whooping cranes are continually supplemented by new arrivals.  

- Audubon (2006) Whooping Crane (Grus americana) [Internet] Available from: http://audubon2.org/watchlist/viewSpecies.jsp?id=214 Accessed 2009 Jan. 7

- International crane foundation (2006) Whooping Crane [Internet] Available from: http://www.savingcranes.org/whoopingcrane.html Accessed 2009 Jan. 7 

- Whooping Crane Conservation Association [WCCA] (2008) Whooping Crane Numbers: April 3, 2008. [Internet] Available from: http://www.whoopingcrane.com/wccaflockstatus.htm Accessed 2009 Jan. 7