HOUSTON (AP) _ A record number of whooping cranes are expected to arrive at their wintering grounds on the Texas Gulf Coast over the next few weeks.
The Houston Chronicle reports state and federal wildlife officials expect as many as 290 of the endangered birds to arrive from their Canadian summer nesting grounds.
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service whooping crane coordinator Tom Stehn says “everything is looking really good” for the whoopers, and the main reason is water. He says there was plenty in their Canadian breeding grounds and plenty awaits them in Texas.
That’s in contrast to the last two seasons, when water shortages led to food shortages. Of a record 270 cranes that arrived at the Aransas National Wildlife Refuge, 23 starved to death or died of problems related to malnutrition.
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