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| Photo: Wikipedia |
NEW ORLEANS — More than a dozen young whooping cranes are expected to arrive this fall in southwest Louisiana, doubling the number in a flock being reintroduced near the area where the state’s last wild flock lived in the 1930s, the Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries says.
Twenty-six whoopers have been brought to Louisiana, but predators and disease killed nearly half of them. Whooping cranes are some of the world’s largest and rarest birds.
State wildlife biologist Carrie Salyers said the next 14 are tentatively scheduled to arrive Nov. 28.
The youngsters hatched in the spring and were raised in captivity.
They’re not expected to mix with the older birds — only one bird from a group brought in back in February 2010 has socialized with those brought in December 2011, and that appeared to be a matter of timing. The male identified as No. 4-10 had left the area. He returned on New Year’s Eve, when the second group of 16 was still being fed daily inside a 1.5-acre fence.
“At first he was not well received. Especially when they realized he was there for the ladies and the crane chow,” Salyers said.
She said the younger birds “were going, ‘No, we can’t stand having you around. We’re going to chase you around nonstop.”’ The returning male had to “grab a gulp of food” while running past it, she said.
Continued: http://www.theeagle.com/article/20120916/BC0105/120919665/1003/BC01
Twenty-six whoopers have been brought to Louisiana, but predators and disease killed nearly half of them. Whooping cranes are some of the world’s largest and rarest birds.
State wildlife biologist Carrie Salyers said the next 14 are tentatively scheduled to arrive Nov. 28.
The youngsters hatched in the spring and were raised in captivity.
They’re not expected to mix with the older birds — only one bird from a group brought in back in February 2010 has socialized with those brought in December 2011, and that appeared to be a matter of timing. The male identified as No. 4-10 had left the area. He returned on New Year’s Eve, when the second group of 16 was still being fed daily inside a 1.5-acre fence.
“At first he was not well received. Especially when they realized he was there for the ladies and the crane chow,” Salyers said.
She said the younger birds “were going, ‘No, we can’t stand having you around. We’re going to chase you around nonstop.”’ The returning male had to “grab a gulp of food” while running past it, she said.
Continued: http://www.theeagle.com/article/20120916/BC0105/120919665/1003/BC01
More on whooping cranes (Grus americana):
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