Whooping Crane Recovery Efforts: What are Whooping Cranes? How have we helped?

Friday, January 3, 2025
5PM to 7PM

We hope to answer these exact questions! Two volunteers from Patuxent Research Refuge’s former Whooping Crane program will join us to speak about the important research conducted at Patuxent. One of North America’s most unique birds, the Whooping Crane, nearly went extinct with only 50 birds alive in 1967. Patuxent Research Refuge, US Fish and Wildlife, and local volunteers, with national support started and operated a crane breeding program on the refuge. That program lasted until 2018, when adult Whooping Cranes finally were able to successfully raise chicks in the wild and teach them to migrate on their own. Today there is a population of well over 500 Whoopers in the wild. The Patuxent Research Refuge program inspired the creation of Cranes International, the non-profit that supports crane conservation efforts for all fifteen of the world's crane species.

The First Fridays Winter Film Series is free and open to the public. No registration needed. Presentations are located at the National Wildlife Visitor Center, 10901 Scarlet Tanager Loop, Laurel, MD 20708.