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ST. MARKS – Today the Florida Department of Environmental Protection (DEP)
announced the anticipated arrival of a flock of endangered whooping cranes to
the region in January. The cranes’ arrival is a part of the Whooping Crane
Eastern Partnership’s (WCEP) Whooping Crane Reintroduction Project at the St.
Marks National Wildlife Refuge. An international partnership of public and
private organizations, WCEP is conducting the reintroduction project in an
effort to return this endangered species to its historic range in eastern North
America.
To prepare for the cranes, the wildlife refuge constructed a three-acre pen
with two ponds to provide protective habitat. The permit for enclosure
construction was issued by DEP in September and the enclosures were constructed
and completed in October with the assistance of local volunteers and the Wakulla
High School Navy Junior Reserve Officer Training Corps.
The project, designed by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, also included
placing oyster shell in the two ponds to provide a roosting area. Within the
ponds, reefs were built with sandbags and oyster shells, which will be used to
teach the cranes to sleep in the water to avoid predators. To aid in the
construction, DEP’s Big Bend Seagrasses Aquatic Preserve donated much of the
oyster shells for the project which was also completed in October. To fully
protect the birds, the final authorization to close portions of Mensler Creek,
Cow Creek and the surrounding marshes to the public has been granted by DEP.
“To protect the whooping cranes and enhance their chances of success, a
protected roosting environment and seasonal closure of two creeks leading to the
site was approved,” said DEP Northwest District Director Dick Fancher. “We are
honored to be part of this innovative partnership to bring back a special
endangered species.”
In 1950 there were estimated to be only 16 birds remaining in the wild.
Presently there are approximately 525 birds in existence, 375 in the wild. The
only wild migratory population winters in the Aransas National Wildlife Refuge
in Texas and summers in Wood Buffalo National Park in Canada. Because the birds
are concentrated in one area of the country, the Whooping Crane Recovery Team (WCRT),
which is comprised of ten members, plans actions to protect the Aransas/Wood
Buffalo natural flock and is charged with establishing two additional flocks in
efforts to safeguard the whooping crane from possible extinction.
The team's efforts to establish a non-migratory whooping crane flock began in
Florida in 1993, using cranes hatched in captivity. In September, 1999, after
searching for the best possible location to establish a second migratory flock,
the team recommended that the flock be taught a route with central Wisconsin as
the summer location and the west coast of Florida as the wintering location. The
WCRT sanctioned Operation Migration's ultralight-led migration technique as the
main reintroduction method.
The most recent effort began on October 17, when 14 ultralight-led cranes
left from central Wisconsin’s Necedah National Wildlife Refuge on their
migration route. Upon arriving in Florida after traveling more than 1,100-miles,
the cranes will be split into two groups. One group will winter at
Chassahowitzka National Wildlife Refuge and one group will spend the winter at
St. Marks National Wildlife Refuge to increase the chances of success for the
project.
Currently, the cranes are in Franklin County, Tennessee and are expected to
resume their journey and arrive at the St. Marks National Wildlife Refuge after
the first of the year. The cranes will remain at the refuge until they are ready
to migrate back to Wisconsin and it is anticipated that they will return
sometime around the end of March.
“The St. Marks National Wildlife Refuge is honored to have been designated
one of only three whooping crane sites in the program,” said Terry Peacock, St.
Marks Wildlife Refuge Manager. “We are overwhelmed with the community support
there has been for bringing this significant program to Wakulla County.”
The St. Marks National Wildlife Refuge, established in 1931 to provide
wintering habitat for migratory birds, is one of the oldest refuges in the
National Wildlife Refuge System. The refuge encompasses 68,000 acres spread out
between Wakulla, Jefferson, and Taylor counties along the Gulf Coast of
northwest Florida.
For more information on the Whooping Crane Reintroduction Project, go to
WCEP’s Web site at
www.bringbackthecranes.org.
Monitor the crane’s daily progress at:
www.operationmigration.org.
For more information on the St. Marks National Wildlife Refuge or to find out
how to help purchase a crane cam at:
www.stmarksrefuge.org
Additional information on DEP can be found at
www.dep.state.fl.us.
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2012 State of Florida