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Whooping Cranes Making Way Through Illinois
Fourteen endangered whooping crane chicks are making their way south with the help of human friends. Four ultralight aircrafts are leading the birds 1,285 miles to Florida's Gulf Coast region.

The journey began in Central Wisconsin with stops scheduled in Illinois in Winnebago, LaSalle, Livingston, Piatt, Cumberland, Wayne and Union counties.

According to the Whooping Crane Eastern Partnership, a group that reintroduces whooping cranes into the wild, there are just 68 migratory whooping cranes in the wild in eastern North America.

Liz Condie with Operation Migration, the team leading the birds south, says the purpose of the trip is to teach the birds a safe migratory path. Before being released in Florida, the birds will be banded and also be fitted with radio tracking devices. Condie says the birds will make their way back north on their own.

Stacey Solano with the Illinois Department of Natural Resources says the IDNR is helping with the logistics of the flight through Illinois.

Whooping cranes were on the verge of extinction in the 1940s. Today there are only about 350 in the wild.

(Illinois Radio Network)
11 26 08 by Newsroom
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