WHOOPERS: A big bird makes a steady comeback ... we'll 
learn more on Passport to Texas
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Passport to Texas from Texas Parks and Wildlife

Thanks to nearly seventy years of conservation efforts, 
whooping cranes -- once tottering on the verge of 
extinction -- have made a comeback. A population of 
sixteen birds has grown to more than two hundred. And 
the news just keeps getting better.

"Well, it looks like another record year."
 
Lee Ann Linam is a biologist for the wildlife diversity 
program at Texas Parks and Wildlife. Whoopers nest in 
Canada and winter in Texas at the Aransas National 
Wildlife Refuge.

"We had fifty-eight nests in Canada this year, which is just short 
of the all-time high. And as of late August, which is the last time 
we get to count chicks on the nesting grounds in Canada, there 
were thirty-four chicks still alive including two sets of twins. So, 
with 215 adult whooping cranes leaving Texas last spring -- and 
hopefully the majority of those surviving -- we're looking to 
perhaps push past the 230 or 235 bird mark this year."

And when might we see their population reach the 300 
mark?

"Well, I don't know how long it will take us to get to 300. We 
didn't hit 100 until 1986, and then we hit 200 in 2005. We'll 
probably get to 300 a little quicker because our population is 
now able to grow a little faster."

A whooping crane bus tour is scheduled for November 27 
at Matagorda Island State Park and Wildlife Management 
area. Logon to the Texas Parks and Wildlife events web 
site events calendar for details.

That's our show ... made possible by a grant from the 
Sport Fish and Wildlife Restoration Program ... For Texas 
Parks and Wildlife ... I'm Cecilia Nasti.