AUSTWELL, Texas, Nov. 30 (UPI) -- A record number of endangered whooping cranes have arrived at their wintering grounds on the Texas Gulf coast, federal wildlife officials said Tuesday.
A Nov. 24 census counted 213 cranes at the Aransas National Wildlife Refuge and surrounding areas, said Tom Stehn of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. The tally included 181 adults and 32 young and more may arrive by mid-December
"This is the highest number of endangered whooping cranes wintering in Texas in the last 100 years," Stehn said. It surpasses last year's count by 19 birds.
The increase is due to very good nest production last summer in the Woods Buffalo National Park in Canada, he said. The wild flock flies 2,400 miles to the coast ever year.
Two male cranes were shot in Kansas during their southern migration this fall. One died but the second is recuperating from wounds and may be used in a breeding program.
Stehn warned hunters to be sure of their targets because whooping cranes look similar to sandhill cranes, which are legal hunting targets in some states.
