Feds probe deaths of endangered cranes migrating through Hardin County

Dec. 5– The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is investigating the "suspicious" deaths of three endangered whooping cranes which may have been part of the flock which roosted in Hardin County on Dec. 2 while migrating south behind guiding ultralight aircraft.

Hardin County has been on the "Operation Migration" route for several years, with the birds staying in a protected location for up to a week at Horse Creek Wildlife, depending on weather conditions.

The cranes were found and reported by hunters just west of Albany, Ga. The landowner reported the cranes had been in the area for a few weeks before they found them dead just before New Year’s Eve, the federal wildlife agency said.

Exams to determine the cause of the birds deaths are expected to be completed in about two weeks.

The cranes are part of the Whooping Crane Eastern Partnership effort to reintroduce whooping cranes into the eastern United States. The three birds were released last October with seven other first-year birds in Wisconsin as part of the "Direct Autumn Release" program.

The dead birds had been banded and equipped with transmitters. According to WCEP trackers, they had last been recorded as being in Hamilton County, Tenn., where they roosted on Dec. 10.

These mortalities, plus the three adult cranes now missing for more than a year and assumed dead, has dropped the number of whooping cranes in the eastern migratory population (EMP) to 96. The EMP has not been at this level since October of 2008 when the flock numbered 91. This despite the release of 50 juveniles between October 2008 and today, Operation Migration reported.

"These deaths, and the falling population number due to other mortalities, dramatically emphasize the vital importance of annual releases of the largest possible number of whooping cranes," said Joe Duff, Operation Migration’s chief executive officer.