Tell the feds you want a Chicagoland NWR

Tell the FWS that Chicago and Milwaukee would like Hackmatack, a new wildlife refuge they could drive to. You might see whooping cranes, river otter, cougars, blandings turtles and all kinds of birds there. They take comments until April 27 and are set to decide this fall.

Keep reading Tell the USFWS you want a Chicagoland wildlife refuge

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Whooping cranes may make AL home after fluky weather and FAA rules dispute

13 endangered whooping cranes now call Wheeler NWR their winter home–maybe permanently–thanks to the quirks of weather, FAA rules and bird stubbornnes.

Keep reading Whooping cranes may make AL home after fluky weather and FAA rules dispute

Kentucky wants to open hunting on eastern population of Sandhill Cranes

Sandhill Dance

KY wants to be the first state in the Eastern Flyway to hunt Sandhill cranes. Watch out whooping cranes. This is the same route endangered whooping cranes take and sandhill hunters keep shooting them.

Keep reading Kentucky wants to open hunting on eastern population of Sandhill Cranes

Another light sentence for a whooping crane killer

Indiana got a confession in a 2009 whooping crane shooting, but only charged a $1 fine. Birders and hunters say that’s too low for an endangered species that cost $110,000 to raise.

Keep reading Yet another light sentence for whooping crane hunter: $1 fine for killing $110,000 bird

Hunters kill 4th endangered Whooping Crane in 2 months

Baby picture of Crane # 412, 2004-2011

Hunters kill 4th endangered Whooping Crane in 2 months. This bird, #412, learned to migrate by following an ultralight aircraft from Necedah, WI to Cherokee County, AL. Last year his chick disappeared. Hunters killed three whoopers in GA this winter. Less than 600 survive. The bird was discovered Jan. 28–two days before the end of waterfowl hunting season. The main hunting area in Cherokee is the Little River National Preserve, which got national parks funding and designation in 1992, but with the special exception that hunting be allowed there. Great idea.  Chattanooga Times Free Press

Rare and freaky blanket octopus spotted octopus off Florida. It’s red, huge and has cape-like arms. People rarely see these regular residents, which live far off shore when the Gulf Stream isn’t acting funny. JustNews.com via Scienceblogs

Michigan wants to ban wildlife rehabiliators from helping sick or injured mute swan. They want to restore the native trumpeter swan, instead. MLive

Israel tests bomb-sniffing mice for airline passengers. Om Dagens Nyheter

Leaked report shows Tanzania’s road through the Serengeti would carry a million cars a day. The road would cut off the migration of elephant, zebra and wildebeest, the country’s main economic engine. Chicago Tribune

Obama administration says, sure, walruses deserve endangered species protection, but they won’t get it. LATimes

Hunters shoot 3 more whooping cranes; picture Palin targeting animal research lab workers

Whooping Crane Hunts

Add three more dead bodies to hunters’ have a long history of shooting endangered whooping cranes. Imagine if Palin had posted a map with cross-hairs on animal research labs. And a tour of other animal news.

Keep reading Hunters shoot 3 more whooping cranes; picture Palin targeting animal research lab workers

Is the Jaguar the next “experimental, non-essential” endangered species?

The United States and the Fish and Wildlife Service just announced it was going to stall another year before coming up with a plan to save the jaguar.

Keep reading Is the Jaguar the next “experimental, non-essential” endangered species?

Texas Hunters Wanted Special Easy Punishment For Shooting Whooping Cranes

whooping crane poster

The federal and state wildlife officials announced plans to release four to eight juvenile whooping cranes in a huge pen at White Lake, then add up to 30 a year to create a non-migratory flock. There’s a strange line in the federal register about how Texas wanted the cranes to make it easier on hunting regulations.

That’s a little greedy since they already have the biggest and best flock, which winters in Arnasas. It’s also a little piggish because what they are in effect saying is that they wanted the flock so that if hunters shot a whooping crane they wouldn’t be charged with messing with an endangered species. Here’s how the Fish and Wildlife Service put it in their public document:

During that discussion, the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department representative expressed interest in having two coastal counties in Texas included as part of the area for this proposed experimental population to avoid possible closures of waterfowl hunting if whooping cranes from the proposed experimental population were to wander into the area. This proposed regulation does not include those two counties as the Service believes that expansion of the endangered AWBP [Arnasas flock] into the two coastal counties is an essential aspect of achieving recovery of the species.

What they’re talking about is this: all populations of an endangered species are divided into those that are essential to the survival of the species and those that are called non-essential experimental. If you kill part of an essential

Keep reading Texas Hunters Wanted Special Easy Punishment For Shooting Whooping Cranes

Whooping Cranes May Move Back to LA Next Spring

Cranebyskylarprimm

The Louisiana flock is only the fourth in the country. The new locations effectively replaces Kissimmee, FL, where a non-migratory flock has failed.

Keep reading Whooping Cranes May Move Back to LA Next Spring