International Crane Foundation International Crane Foundation News

Jurek7 said:
Any follow up with their projects to reintroduce whooping cranes? I am following this with interest for some years.

Considering that groups of zoo-bred whooping cranes usually failed to develop into a wild insurance population. I wondered briefly if they could transplant some wild whooping cranes from Texas to another reserve? Experienced wild birds could be the best candidates to start an insurance population, develop a new migration route etc. Although they might also fly back to their old place.
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They would almost certainly just fly back to where they used to be. More reintroduction will certainly happen in the future, but it's likely pretty far off. Right now their main focus is bringing the Wisconsin and Louisiana populations to sustainable levels. After this happens they will likely discuss other sites.
 
Kifaru Bwana said:
What techniques do they use for the reintroduction process?
Any hacking to wild nesting pairs?
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I’m not entirely sure what they are doing at this point. I know a few years ago they were collecting eggs from Necedah National Wildlife Refuge and hatching them in captivity, then reintroducing juveniles, but I’m not sure if they are still doing that or what they are doing now.
 
birdsandbats said:
They would almost certainly just fly back to where they used to be.
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If they are close, yes, but otherwise I am not so sure. One whooping crane in Wisconsin was blown away, and could not reorientate, but continued to migrate north and south more the less parallel to the rest of the population.
 
Jurek7 said:
Any follow up with their projects to reintroduce whooping cranes? I am following this with interest for some years.

Considering that groups of zoo-bred whooping cranes usually failed to develop into a wild insurance population. I wondered briefly if they could transplant some wild whooping cranes from Texas to another reserve? Experienced wild birds could be the best candidates to start an insurance population, develop a new migration route etc. Although they might also fly back to their old place.
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Stone Zoo Massachusetts. Eggs that made it went to another zoo to be raised, then is going back into wild. Stone didn’t have an enclosure for the baby to keep it safe from overhead predators. But it’s going back to the wild.❤️
 

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Very impressive news. The International Crane Foundation has hatched a Brolga - a captive breeding that isn't common within nor out of Australia. From their social media:

"We want to introduce the newest member of our crane family – a three-day-old Brolga! The wobbly chick hatched on Sunday and is being raised by Brolga female Celia at our headquarters. In addition, we have three growing Whooping Crane chicks being prepared for release into the wild in Wisconsin this fall. It's good to hear the pitter-patter of little crane feet at our site again."
 
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WhistlingKite24 said:
Very impressive news. The International Crane Foundation has hatched a Brolga - a captive breeding that isn't common within nor out of Australia. From their social media:

"We want to introduce the newest member of our crane family – a three-day-old Brolga! The wobbly chick hatched on Sunday and is being raised by Brolga female Celia at our headquarters. In addition, we have three growing Whooping Crane chicks being prepared for release into the wild in Wisconsin this fall. It's good to hear the pitter-patter of little crane feet at our site again."
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That's awesome! Hopefully all goes well.
 
WhistlingKite24 said:
Very impressive news. The International Crane Foundation has hatched a Brolga - a captive breeding that isn't common within nor out of Australia. From their social media:

"We want to introduce the newest member of our crane family – a three-day-old Brolga! The wobbly chick hatched on Sunday and is being raised by Brolga female Celia at our headquarters. In addition, we have three growing Whooping Crane chicks being prepared for release into the wild in Wisconsin this fall. It's good to hear the pitter-patter of little crane feet at our site again."
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The Brolga chick is doing well. It has been named Gubbi Gubbi, after one of the groups of traditional custodians that reside here in south-east Queensland: Log into Facebook | Facebook
 
Things aren’t looking good for Crane City…
“Last night Baraboo experienced a heavy wet snow fall of 6 inches. It has caused significant damage to our crane breeding facility (Crane City). Luckily all the birds are ok but has been a really long day and the damage to Crane City is severe. The staff worked all day trying to clear snow and the progress was extremely slow. Every pen is affected, and all nets are down. We are racing against the clock with the temperature forecast on Saturday being single digits. There is potential for all the fallen nets to freeze to the ground. We have not assessed the exhibit area yet but there is significant damage. Right now, all birds are locked inside their houses but we are hoping to save some of the nets so they can eventually be allowed access outside. It will be a very long winter if we cannot do this.”
Apparently staff and volunteers from the Henry Vilas Zoo are coming to help tomorrow (I volunteer for the zoo, which is why I got this message in my email).
 
7/11/23 Visit
As I have been spending much of my time in Baraboo recently, I decided to take a trip over to the International Crane Foundation. It was my first time visiting, so I didn't know what to expect. I had always heard good things about it, and I knew it was going to be a pleasant visit after seeing home beautiful the site was.

Calling this facility stunning is an understatement. It is full of native foliage, and the buildings and pathways are well-kept and pretty. Each enclosure is quite spacious, with all but three of the exhibits being covered. Each enclosure has its own beautiful water feature as well.

Updates:
  • Blue Cranes were not on exhibit due to them getting a new mural.
  • White-Naped Cranes were not on exhibit due to one of them needing vet treatment, so both of them had to go.
 
Other 2023 News:

On May 3rd, the center announced they transferred (0.0.4) whooping crane eggs to Louisiana to be released in the future.

From the Field ~ Five... - International Crane Foundation

On September 6th, the center announced that they raised (0.0.6) whooping cranes of which all six were released into the wild around late October-early November.

From the Field ~ Our team... - International Crane Foundation
From the Field ~ This year's 12 wild-hatched and released Whooping Crane juveniles are doing well in the Eastern Migratory Population, including our six costume-reared cranes released last week at Horicon Marsh in Wisconsin - they have already migrated to Indiana (whoop, whoop!) Track the fall migration with our 'Where Are the Whoopers' map > bit.ly/3QNMnF4 ️ Juvenile W12-23 (far left, the 'W' indicates he hatched in the wild) and parents 24-08 and 13-02 in Juneau County, Wisconsin. The juvenile's feathers are a mix of cinnamon white, but by next spring, he will have his full-white adult plumage. Hillary Thompson/International Crane Foundation | International Crane Foundation

On September 26th, the center announced they raised and released a (0.0.1) whooping crane named Beaker into the wild.

From the Field ~ There's... - International Crane Foundation

On October 5th, the center announced they acquired (0.0.2) whooping cranes named Harp and Reed from the Wilder Institute in Alberta, Canada which were then released into the wild.

Exciting news! Our Alberta-born... - Wilder Institute

On July 14th, the center announced that a (0.0.1) brolga named Chamberlain hatched earlier in July.

Need a little good news... - International Crane Foundation

On July 24th, the center announced they installed new signage around the facility in both English and Hoocąk (of the Ho-Chunk Nation of Wisconsin/Windebago Tribe of Nebraska) highlighting native plants.

If you've visited our... - International Crane Foundation
 
5/4/24 Updates
  • Many of the birds were not in pairs, including the Sandhill, White-Naped, Red-Crowned, Eurasian, and Brolga.
  • The Red-Crowned Crane on exhibit is an old individual, but a sign indicated that a new pair was being formed in the "Crane Town" behind-the-scenes. I do not know if this pair will be moved onto exhibit or not.
  • The Brolga on exhibit is the chick that was born last year.
  • The sign on the Eurasian Crane exhibit says the facility plans on continuing to breed Eurasians, and that they have a handful of them, but I do not know if the others are off-show and they will move another onto exhibit? It would be a shame for them to lose this species.
  • The building that is next to the main compound was being renovated. I do not know what it was before, but they said it was closed for construction.
  • There is a new viewing area that has been built to overlook the prairie.
 
EsserWarrior said:
5/4/24 Updates
  • Many of the birds were not in pairs, including the Sandhill, White-Naped, Red-Crowned, Eurasian, and Brolga.
  • The Red-Crowned Crane on exhibit is an old individual, but a sign indicated that a new pair was being formed in the "Crane Town" behind-the-scenes. I do not know if this pair will be moved onto exhibit or not.
  • The Brolga on exhibit is the chick that was born last year.
  • The sign on the Eurasian Crane exhibit says the facility plans on continuing to breed Eurasians, and that they have a handful of them, but I do not know if the others are off-show and they will move another onto exhibit? It would be a shame for them to lose this species.
  • The building that is next to the main compound was being renovated. I do not know what it was before, but they said it was closed for construction.
  • There is a new viewing area that has been built to overlook the prairie.
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The aviary’s central gimmick is having every crane species. I can’t imagine they would phase out the Eurasians, or any species for that matter
 
Persephone said:
The aviary’s central gimmick is having every crane species. I can’t imagine they would phase out the Eurasians, or any species for that matter
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Exactly. That is my thought process as well. I wonder if their bloodline has become quite limited, so maybe they plan on importing new individuals? Or maybe they have an ample amount of individuals that are off-show to produce new residents.
 
EsserWarrior said:
5/4/24 Updates
  • Many of the birds were not in pairs, including the Sandhill, White-Naped, Red-Crowned, Eurasian, and Brolga.
  • The Red-Crowned Crane on exhibit is an old individual, but a sign indicated that a new pair was being formed in the "Crane Town" behind-the-scenes. I do not know if this pair will be moved onto exhibit or not.
  • The Brolga on exhibit is the chick that was born last year.
  • The sign on the Eurasian Crane exhibit says the facility plans on continuing to breed Eurasians, and that they have a handful of them, but I do not know if the others are off-show and they will move another onto exhibit? It would be a shame for them to lose this species.
  • The building that is next to the main compound was being renovated. I do not know what it was before, but they said it was closed for construction.
  • There is a new viewing area that has been built to overlook the prairie.
Click to expand...
As of a few yeas ago (and I assume this is still true) they should have at least one off-show breeding pair of every species (and, to my knowledge, more than one of every species except Brolga).
 
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