Monthly summary of media stories highlighting our global programs.
Sandhill Crane committee focuses on potential hunting season but spends little time on crop damage, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
This story also in Wisconsin Public Radio and Isthmus
Kenya Crane Festival shines spotlight on urgent wetland conservation for endangered cranes, Eldoret Media Hub
The International Crane Foundation in Africa calls for governments, organisations, and individuals to work alongside traditional custodians to restore wetlands for a secure future of cranes and people ahead of World Wetlands Day to be celebrated on 2nd February under the theme “Wetlands and Traditional Knowledge: Celebrating Cultural Heritage.”
More than 90,000 hectares (222,600 acres) of irreplaceable Drakensberg Grasslands will now be conserved as part of South Africa’s first large-scale, verified soil carbon project.
For decades, conservationists have worked to combat threats that nearly drove the Whooping Crane to extinction. Their population hit a historic low of only 21 individuals in the wild in the 1940s. As part of the effort to save the species, a population of migratory Whooping Cranes was reintroduced to Wisconsin in 2001, known as the Eastern Migratory Population, or EMP. Today, the EMP consists of around 70 individuals who spend their summers in Wisconsin before migrating further south for the winter, mostly in Alabama and Indiana. Through this reintroduction and countless other conservation measures, there are now about 700 Whooping Cranes in the wild in three populations. Despite this impressive growth, threats continue to emerge that threaten the species’ survival, and these must be met with creative research, dedicated partnerships, and decisive action to safeguard the future of Whooping Cranes.
