Oldest Known Female Whooping Crane Dies at 28

Saskatoon, November 1^st , 2005 – The oldest known female Whooping Crane was recently found dead on the edge of Muskiki Lake, Saskatchewan.

The 28 year old bird was last seen alive on October 3 in a field near Muskiki Lake where she was feeding with her mate and chick. She seemed to be slightly apart from her family and later wandered to the lakeshore and disappeared.

“I suspected something was wrong. When I later received a sighting report of a single adult with a chick on the same lake I decided to investigate,” says Brian Johns of Environment Canada’s Canadian Wildlife Service.

A small search team of biologists headed back to where the bird was last seen. All that was found were two piles of feathers and a carcass that had been dragged to a nearby bush. “Twenty-eight is a ripe old age for a crane, so I suspect she died of old age and was then scavenged by a fox or coyote,” Johns speculates.

Twenty-eight years ago when she was a chick in a remote area of Wood Buffalo National Park, Ernie Kuyt, retired Canadian Wildlife Service biologist, gave Green-Red her unique coloured leg bands. The leg bands would enable her to be tracked over the years. Since then, she has been making the long annual migration between Wood Buffalo National Park and Aransas National Wildlife Refuge, covering an estimated 225,000 km. She has added 11 offspring to the flock, helping bring the species back from the brink of extinction.

Environment Canada has made it a priority to conduct long-term research, monitoring, and recovery activities to help bring back species at risk such as the Whooping Crane. Thanks to the tireless efforts of biologists, citizen sightings and responsible wildlife activities, and through protection measures such as the Species at Risk Act and the Migratory Bird Convention Act, it is hoped that this majestic species of bird will continue on the road to recovery.

To report a sighting, call the Whooping Crane Hotline at (306) 975-5595. To learn more about the Whooping Crane, visit www.speciesatrisk.gc.ca.

For more information, please contact:

Brian Johns
Canadian Wildlife Service, Environment Canada
(306) 975-4109