Whooping Crane Total Population (Figures as of February 9, 2009)     Wild Populations Adult (ALL white Birds) Young* Total Adult Pairs Aransas/Wood Buffalo self-sustaining migratory flock 230 35 265* 72 Florida nonmigratory 29 0 29  8 Rocky Mountains 0 0 0 0 Wisconsin/Florida reintroduced migratory flock (The goal is a flock of 125 birds in Wisconsin by 2020, including 25 nesting pairs.) 67 20 ** 87  11 Subtotal in the Wild :  326  55 381 91            Captive Populations Adults Young** Total Breeding Pairs Patuxent WRC, MD 62 3 65 13 International Crane Foundation, WI 32 0 32 11 Devonian Wildlife Conservation Center, Calgary, AB, Canada 24 0 24 6 Calgary Zoo, AB, Canada 2 0 2 0 San Antonio Zoo, TX 7 0 7 1 Lowry Park Zoo, Tampa, FL 1 0 1 0 Audubon Zoo, New Orleans, LA 2 0 2 0 Species Survival Center, Louisiana 12 0 12 1 Homosassa Springs Wildlife State Park, FL 2 0 2 0 Jacksonville Zoo, FL 2 0 2 0 Milwaukee County Zoo, WI 1 1 2 0 Subtotal in Captivity: 147 4 151 32 Total wild + captive 381 151 532   *Until the next updating of Total Populations on this page, every known death in the Eastern migratory flock is reported here. *The 265 cranes above is an estimate. Forty-one chicks fledged from a record 66 nests in 2008. Approximately 38 chicks arrived at Aransas in fall 2008, with the peak flock size estimated to have been 270. An estimated five whooping cranes have died at Aransas subsequent to completing the fall migration. **The 5 whooping crane breeding facilities (Patuxent Wildlife Research Center, International Crane Foundation, Calgary Zoo, San Antonio Zoo, and Species Survival Center in New Orleans) either provided eggs or hatched and raised chicks in 2008. Four eggs came from abandoned wild nests in Wisconsin and successfully hatched at Patuxent. Twenty-one chicks were raised for the release programs in central Wisconsin (14 ultralight, 7 direct autumn release). One direct autumn release chick was killed by a predator on November 6, 2008 at Necedah NWR. **Three of these young are genetic holdbacks and will remain in captivity as future breeding stock. The table does not reflect captive young that have entered reintroduction programs in 2008.   Previous Whooping Crane Population Totals September 2008 April 2008 2007 2006 2005 2004 2003 Data courtesy of the Whooping Crane Recovery Team, Whooping Crane Eastern Partnership (WCEP). This Season Teachers Kids Orientation Registration Search Copyright 1997-2009 Journey North. All Rights Reserved. Questions or comments? Contact us.