Laserfiche WebLink
17 <br />most probable times), would slow response time further. In addition, the response of the <br />whooping cranes to spilled materials and humans trying to haze the whoopers away from a <br />spill is currently unknown." <br />Allen (1952) compiled records of whooping cranes known to have died from gunshot or <br />other causes from colonial times to 1948. Most losses (about 66 percent) occurred during <br />migration, especially between the 1880's and 1920's. Such large, conspicuous birds could <br />not have remained long in early settled areas without drawing the attention of those who <br />wished to reduce them to objects of closer inspection or meat for the table. Enactment of <br />protective legislation coincided with a decline in human - caused mortality, but shootings still <br />occur. The most recently documented loss associated with hunting was an adult female, <br />mistaken for a snow goose near Aransas NWR in January 1989. An adult female was shot <br />by a vandal in April 1991 as she migrated northward through Texas. Although <br />examinations of retrieved carcasses have rarely revealed the presence of shotgun pellets, <br />three lead pellets were found during the post - mortem examination of a male from the Rocky <br />Mountain population in January 1984 (Snyder et al. 1992). <br />Whooping cranes of the AWP occasionally associate with sandhill cranes during migration <br />and RMP birds frequently associate with sandhill cranes. Sandhill crane hunting seasons in <br />the States in the migration corridor were originally seasonally timed or geographically limited <br />to protect whooping cranes (Buller 1967, Archibald at al. 1976, Thompson and George <br />1987). Expansion of these seasons may have increased the risks to whooping cranes <br />(Konrad 1987). This hazard needs to be monitored and precautions taken to avoid <br />accidental shooting of whooping cranes. Tundra swan hunts recently initiated in the <br />northern Great Plains (Montana, 1983; North Dakota, 1988; South Dakota, 1990), also <br />present opportunities for misidentification of whooping cranes and accidental shooting. <br />Allen (1956) reported nearly 200 taxidermy mounts, study skins, and skeletons, and an <br />undetermined number of eggs were in museums in the United States and Canada. Hahn <br />(1963) indicated that 309 mounts and 9 skeletons existed in museums throughout the <br />world. The lack of data associated with most of these specimens suggests that very few <br />were deliberately taken by collectors associated with museums. Shooting represented a <br />substantial drain on the population, particularly from 1870 to 1920. Allen (1952) recorded <br />254 kills. Considering the low reproductive potential of the species, and the small <br />percentage of shot birds which are documented, the kill alone possibly exceeded annual <br />reproduction by the early 1900's. <br />The slow growth of the AWP during recent decades seems to have resulted primarily from a <br />decline in the mortality rate rather than an increase in recruitment (Miller at al. 1974). <br />Consequently, if losses of white - plumaged birds can be prevented or reduced, population <br />growth should be substantially accelerated. Between 1938- 1986,187 whooping cranes are <br />known to have disappeared from the wild population. The causative factors underlying this <br />substantial mortality remain largely unknown but it is clear that a high priority needs to be <br />placed on identifying the sources of mortality and implementing remedial actions. <br />Probable cause of death has been identified for 9 whooping cranes, including 2 radio - tagged <br />birds, which died on the wintering grounds. Losses were due to shooting (2 known and a <br />third suspected), avian tuberculosis or a closely related disease (2), birds that arrived injured <br />