Thu, Jun 29, 2006
Will Be Led By Ultralight To Florida Later This Year
This story isn't about
the latest news on the Airbus scandal... or the fight over user
fees... but, we'd argue, it is a story close to the heart and soul
of general aviation.
This week, Aero-News learned the first whooping crane chick has
been hatched at the Necedah Wildlife Refuge. It marks the first
time a migratory whooping crane pair has reproduced in the eastern
United States since the species dwindled to just 15 birds in
1942.
The chicks are also the first hatched in Wisconsin since the
whooping crane reintroduction project began five years ago.
As with the other 63 birds the program has placed in the wild
since the program began... the birds were raised from chicks by
costumed humans, and then trained to follow ultralight aircraft on
a path from Wisconsin to Florida to learn the migration route
south. Subsequent migrations have then occurred without the aid of
their ultralight "parents."
Larry Wargowsky, manager of the Necedah Wildlife Refuge, called
the hatching a "major milestone."
The fate of the newly-hatched chick... and its sibling, who at
last report was still in its shell... is now up to the parents, who
must teach the chicks to survive in the wild before they reach
maturity.
If all goes to plan... and everyone is optimistic it will... the
chicks will join eight others brought to the refuge recently, that
will depart from Necedah at the end of summer... following an
ultralight... to learn the way to their winter homes for years to
come.
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