Endangered Mississippi sandhill cranes reintroduced

Three endangered Mississippi sandhill cranes (Grus canadensis pulla) have been reintroduced to the wild. The cranes were hatched at White Oak Conservation, a conservation center in Yulee, Florida, and released at the Mississippi Sandhill National Wildlife Refuge near Gautier, Mississippi. Only about 130 Mississippi sandhill cranes are believed to exist in the wild. The subspecies only exists in and around the refuge. “This population of cranes is dependent on the reintroduction of healthy offspring produced each year at the breeding centers,” Steve Shurter, chief executive officer of White Oak Conservation, told the Florida Times-Union.

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