Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries - Whooping Cranes

Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries - Whooping Cranes Information and updates about the non-migratory whooping crane reintroduction project in Louisiana. By 1945, only two cranes remained in Louisiana.

Historically, whooping cranes occurred in Louisiana in both a resident, non-migratory flock as well as migratory birds that wintered in the state. Conversion of prairies and wetlands to mechanized agriculture and unregulated hunting lead to the decline of this species both nationally and at the state level. In March of 1950, the lone Louisiana crane referred to as “Mac” was captured at White Lake

and transported to the Aransas National Wildlife Refuge on the central Texas coast. For 60 years whooping cranes were absent from the Louisiana landscape until their reintroduction at the White Lake Wetlands Conservation Area (WLWCA) located in Vermilion Parish starting in 2011. The goal of the project is to establish a self-sustaining population in southwest Louisiana. A self-sustaining population will likely require approximately 120 individuals and 30 productive pairs with those levels maintained for 10 years without additional restocking. This goal is part of the overall recovery goals for the species. Whooping cranes that are reintroduced to Louisiana will be non-migratory.

The International Crane Foundation is wrapping up their tour of the Jefferson Davis Parish Libraries with programs at tw...
06/23/2026

The International Crane Foundation is wrapping up their tour of the Jefferson Davis Parish Libraries with programs at two bookmobile locations this Thursday, June 25th. The rain (too much of it in some parts of the parish ) looks to be over but the temperatures will be rising, making these programs a perfect inside activity.

The Thursday programs will be in Fenton and Topsy/Lake Charles at the locations listed below. If you haven't made it out to one of these programs yet, we hope you'll be able to join one of these.

Fenton: 9:30 at St. Borromeo Catholic Church Hall, 804 3rd Ave, Fenton, LA 70640

Topsy: 2:00 at Topsy Baptist Church, 5311 Topsy Bel Rd, Lake Charles, LA 70611

Not only is it Father's Day today, but it's also National Selfie Day!Nobody told the whooping cranes that trail cameras ...
06/21/2026

Not only is it Father's Day today, but it's also National Selfie Day!

Nobody told the whooping cranes that trail cameras are supposed to photograph wildlife from a distance.

Over the years, we've collected quite a few accidental "selfies" as curious cranes investigated the cameras, checked their reflections and occasionally left us with nothing but an extreme close-up of a beak or eyeball.

Thanks to the cranes for helping keep our camera photos entertaining! 😅

Happy Father's Day to all the dads out there! Photo: Male L3-21 with his two newly hatched chicks, LW2-26 and LW3-26 in ...
06/21/2026

Happy Father's Day to all the dads out there!

Photo: Male L3-21 with his two newly hatched chicks, LW2-26 and LW3-26 in Vermilion Parish.

The International Crane Foundation is bringing The Amazing Super Whooper program to the Vermilion Parish Library next we...
06/20/2026

The International Crane Foundation is bringing The Amazing Super Whooper program to the Vermilion Parish Library next week! If you attend the Gueydan program, you're just a short drive from the White Lake Wetlands Conservation Area, the homebase of the crane reintroduction project. Take a walk along the birding trail and keep your eyes (and ears) open for any cranes that may be in the area!

The International Crane Foundation will be back in Jefferson Davis Parish tomorrow with their summer library whooping cr...
06/17/2026

The International Crane Foundation will be back in Jefferson Davis Parish tomorrow with their summer library whooping crane program! We've heard you guys have really been turning out for these; WAY TO GO JEFF DAVIS FOLKS! But in case you haven't made it yet, you still have several opportunities.

Tomorrow, programs will be held at two of the Jefferson Davis Parish Libraries bookmobile locations in Lacassine and Raymond.

Lacassine: 10:30 at St. John Catholic Church, 314 Dugas St, Lacassine, LA 70650

Raymond: 2:30 at St. Lawrence Catholic Church Hall, 5505 Pine Island Hwy, Raymond, LA 70546

Our friends from the International Crane Foundation have a jam packed week this week and given all the rain in the forec...
06/16/2026

Our friends from the International Crane Foundation have a jam packed week this week and given all the rain in the forecast their library programs are the perfect indoor activity for you and your kiddos!

Tomorrow, Wednesday, June 17th, they are dividing and conquering and will be at the South St. Landry/Armand J. Brinkhaus Community Library in Sunset at 2:00 and they'll also have their Amazing Super Whooper program at two locations of the Calcasieu Parish Public Library - 10:00 at the Hayes branch and 3:00 at the Stark branch.

We hope you can make it to one of these, but if not, stay tuned, there's lots more to come!

The International Crane Foundation's summer library program returns to Avoyelles Parish Library this Monday and Tuesday!...
06/14/2026

The International Crane Foundation's summer library program returns to Avoyelles Parish Library this Monday and Tuesday! You can catch it at the following branches:

Monday, 15 June
Cottonport Branch at 10:00am
Plaucheville Branch at 12:00pm
Bunkie Branch at 2:00pm

Tuesday, 16 June
Simmesport Branch at 10:00am
Moreauville Branch at 2:00pm

Six weeks separates the oldest and youngest surviving whooping crane chicks from this year's nesting season and we were ...
06/12/2026

Six weeks separates the oldest and youngest surviving whooping crane chicks from this year's nesting season and we were able to check on both of them earlier this week.

LW1-26 hatched to mom and dad, L11-11 and L1-19, in Jefferson Davis Parish in mid-March, and is now pretty much fully grown and the same size as his/her parents. At 12 weeks old s/he should be able to fly, and is the 4th chick, in as many years, to be successfully raised by this pair! 🥰

LW23-26 hatched to mom and dad, L10-15 and L19-16, in Acadia Parish towards the end of April. Although s/he looks fairly big, there's some growing still to be done. And if you zoom in, you can see that s/he looks 'fuzzy' from the down feathers that remain on a 6 week old chick.

The whooping crane families are approaching an exciting stage! Three chicks are now over 80 days old - the average confi...
06/10/2026

The whooping crane families are approaching an exciting stage! Three chicks are now over 80 days old - the average confirmed fledging age - with three more getting close, including one who turns 80 days old today. The youngest two still have about a month to go, but it won't be long before these families are moving around and exploring new areas!

Photo: Wild-hatched LW9-26 and its parents, L7-18 and L3-19, in Vermilion Parish on 9 June.

The International Crane Foundation's whooping crane library programs continue this week in Jefferson Davis Parish, one o...
06/08/2026

The International Crane Foundation's whooping crane library programs continue this week in Jefferson Davis Parish, one of the most highly used parishes by Louisiana's whooping cranes! We hope you'll be able to make it to one of these programs to learn about Louisiana's whooping cranes and the wetland habitat they depend on! In Jefferson Davis Parish the cranes mostly use agricultural property - rice and crawfish fields, often referred to as working wetlands!

This week programs will be held at 4 of the Jefferson Davis Parish Libraries branches. On Wednesday, the 10th, programs will take place at the Lake Arthur branch at 10 AM and at the Strand Theatre in Jennings at 2 PM. On Thursday, the 11th, programs will be held at the Welsh branch at 10 AM and the Elton branch at 2 PM.

Address

White Lake Wetlands Conservation Area 16105 Highway 91, PO Box 480
Gueydan, LA
70542

Telephone

+13375369400

Website

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