Whoopee!

Here's a nice bit of breaking news from the conservation biology front: The birth of two Whooping Crane chicks in Wisconsin. (Scroll down this page at Operation Migration's site to the June 23rd entry for pictures of the birds.)

This is absolutely tremendous news. These birds are part of the reintroduced Eastern Migratory Population, and these births mark the first time in over a century that Whooping Crane chicks have hatched in the wild in the Eastern US. There's still a long way to go, though. The chicks have a couple of months to go before they're ready to leave the nest, and even if they survive the total population of the species is still under 500 individuals - counting both wild and captive animals. So keep your fingers crossed for these birds.

No matter what happens, though, this hatching is a tribute to the time and effort that a lot of amazingly dedicated individuals and groups have put into the recovery of the cranes. Let's have a big round of applause for the Whooping Crane Eastern Partnership.