Posted on 10/28/2001 5:35:55 AM PST by GeekDejure
MADISON, Wis. (AP) - After suffering the loss of a whooping crane in a wind storm, researchers took advantage of good weather Saturday to resume a migratory trip to Florida with their remaining small flock of the endangered birds.
Two ultralight aircraft led six cranes on a flight that covered 94.7 miles in one hour and 55 minutes, stopping at a location in Illinois' De Kalb County, according to the Operation Migration Web site.
One other crane was transported in his crate by the ground crew because the pilots wanted to wait until they are over more open terrain for that bird to fly with the rest of the flock, organizers said. The distance covered Saturday equaled the total of three previous flights since the flock left Necedah National Wildlife Refuge in central Wisconsin Oct. 17.
The project suffered a setback at its previous stop in southern Wisconsin's Green County when strong winds collapsed part of a pen used for the cranes at each stop. Some of the cranes left the pen and all but one were rounded up in the area and returned to a makeshift holding pen, but the other was found dead Thursday beneath a power line it likely collided with. The cranes are expected to reach the Chassahowitzka National Wildlife Refuge in central Florida in late November.
The birds were hatched and raised at the Patuxent Wildlife Research Center in Maryland before researchers transported them to Necedah. They have been trained to follow the ultralight planes, whose pilots, like everyone else who works with the birds, wear crane-like costumes to prevent the cranes from becoming familiar with humans.
The cross-country trip is the first in an effort to establish a second migratory flock of whooping cranes. A similar experiment with sandhill cranes a year ago succeed when they made it back to Necedah on their own in the spring.
At 5 feet tall, whoopers are North America's tallest birds and one of the world's rarest. About 400 of the birds exist in the world. The whooping crane was near extinction in 1941, with only about 20 left.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.