Wayne the Whooping Crane plush stuffed animal

Best available evidence indicates that the whooping crane is considered to be facing a very high risk of extinction in the wild, though numbers in the wild are increasing.

Whooping cranes can migrate over 2,500 miles a year between their breeding grounds in Canada and wintering grounds along the Gulf Coast of the US. They follow the same routes every year, using landmarks and environmental cues to navigate!

Whooping crane populations had dwindled to no more than 15 individuals in the wild, making them at the time the most endangered bird species in the world. Today, their numbers continue to grow as the wild and captive populations improve.

Whooping cranes have a unique courtship ritual, an elaborate dance put on by the male cranes to attract a mate. The dance involves intricate movements and male cranes call out with a distinctive whooping sound, which gives them their name.

There are a few wild flocks of whooping cranes, but only two are migratory in North America - one that migrates between Canada and Aransas Pass, Texas and one that migrates over Wisconsin (ICF NA headquarters) and Florida.

Conservation activities of breeding cranes in captivity and releasing them (even teaching them how to migrate) have caused a dramatic improvement to the future of the whooping crane, but we must continue to fight for them and their habitats.