Join Anne Lacy, the International Crane Foundation’s Director of Eastern Flyway Programs – North America, for her presentation, “Only Threatened? Update on the Whooping Crane Reintroduction,” on March 8 at the Rowe Sanctuary in Gibbon, Nebraska.
Join Dr. Adalbert Aine-omucunguzi, the International Crane Foundation’s East Africa Regional Director, for a presentation on our Africa Crane Conservation Program on Feb. 28 at the Kansas City Zoo.
The International Crane Foundation, in partnership with Mekong Organics and Vietnam Wild Tour & Research LTD (WILDTOUR), is thrilled to announce the project entitled “Sarus Crane Restoration and Regenerative Agriculture Pilot” at Tram Chim National Park, Vietnam.
After a successful 10-year partnership for Siberian Crane Flyway Conservation, the International Crane Foundation announced the population of Siberian Cranes in the eastern flyway region has increased from less than 3,500 in 2015 to almost 7,000 cranes today. The Foundation held closing ceremonies in China last week to celebrate the Saving Wildlife for Siberian Crane Project, with 110 representatives from government departments, protected areas, scientific research institutions, non-governmental organizations, volunteers, and communities attending the ceremony and workshop.
Captive-rearing programs have successfully bolstered the number of Whooping Cranes in the Eastern Migratory Population (EMP) from the initial releases of captive-reared juveniles in 2001 to the present.
Whooping Cranes are one of the rarest birds in the world. They are particularly susceptible to collisions with powerlines, many of which are fatal, and this impedes the recovery of the species.
Update: The Wisconsin Legislative Council Study Committee on Sandhill Cranes is scheduled to hold its last meeting on Tuesday, Dec. 10, beginning at 10 a.m. at the Wisconsin State Capitol, Room 417 North – GAR Hall (2 E. Main St., Madison).
In May 2019, researchers at the International Crane Foundation documented a pair of female Whooping Cranes nesting and incubating eggs at McMillan Marsh Wildlife Area in Marathon County, Wisconsin. This observation, while exciting, was not necessarily unique as many birds, including chinstrap penguins, greater flamingoes, zebra finches, bearded vultures, and even Black-necked Cranes, have been known to exhibit same-sex pairing behaviors.
A dead Grey Crowned Crane lies below a transmission line in southwest Uganda.
A sudden movement causes a Grey Crowned Crane pair to flush, leaping upwards until one of the cranes unknowingly collides with a powerline near their roost site. The bird later is found below the line with a wing injury or is killed immediately from the impact or electrocution.
On a recent visit to the flats: To get an idea of where the birds were, we visited a fishing camp. The fisherfolk said, there and there and there! The Ranger helped us get there. And there and there. And behold. Congregations of water birds of global significance. In the Kafue Flats. The vision of the Kafue Flats Restoration Partnership is “A Thriving Wetland For All.” — Mwape Sichilongo
The Kafue Flats in Zambia is the most important floodplain in Africa for Wattled Cranes. More than 3,000 of these majestic birds (a third of the total population) depend on the Kafue Flats for their breeding, feeding, and roosting needs. Local communities who share this floodplain with Wattled Cranes call them, Nakaala, meaning “the one who lays only one or two precious eggs.” They are the most wetland-dependent of Africa’s cranes and important indicators of the health and ecological functioning of this enormous floodplain.
