Whooping Cranes Being Re-introduced In Louisiana

Bob Love of the Louisiana Office of Wildlife and Fisheries visited 'Mornings With Ken and Bernie' today and discussed the re-introduction of whooping cranes into Louisiana.  According to Love the whooping cranes are being re-introduced in the White Lake Wetlands area of Cameron Parish because they flourished in that area prior to 1940.  At one time only four females carried the genes for the whole species which put them on the brink of extinction.

Love said there were a number of reasons for the near extinction of the whooping cranes.  He said,

"The open prairie has been converted to agriculture.  We've decimated their breeding habitat.  Dredging of canals in the marsh for hunting and trapping as well as oil production allowed for the penetration of their habitat."

In addition Love said,

"They're not cryptic and they are not nocturnal.  These attributes make them easy to hunt so they were killed in large numbers at one time."

Listen to the interview;