The whooping crane has been experiencing a difficult but successful rebound from the brink of extinction. Impressive efforts by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and conservation groups in recent decades have led to significant recovery for the whooping crane, the tallest bird species in North America.

In 1870, between 500 and 1,400 whooping cranes inhabited North America; by 1941, the migratory population had dropped to 16 individuals. Whooping crane numbers fell due to several factors, including hunting and specimen collection, human disturbance, and conversion of nesting habitat for agriculture. Collisions with power lines and fences are known hazards to wild whooping cranes. Others have died of avian tuberculosis, avian cholera, and lead poisoning. Whooping cranes also are vulnerable to natural disasters such as hail storms or drought due to their long migration route.

Active intervention by the U.S. and Canadian governments, as well as conservation groups, have helped this flock recover from less than 20 birds in the 1940s to nearly 400 birds today. In 1967, when the crane was listed as endangered, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service began a captive breeding and intensive recovery program. Captive management has been challenging, for the bird is very sensitive to human contact. Through this program, three facilities are now captively rearing whooping cranes for reintroduction into the wild, and flocks have been reintroduced into the wild at two sites. There are currently seven captive flocks in the U.S. and Canada. Excess eggs have been removed from the wild and raised in captivity while artificial insemination has also proven successful. Today, there are nearly 400 whooping cranes in the wild and in captivity.

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service's whooping crane recovery program, conducted by a partnership of non-profit organizations and government agencies, has been so successful that other countries have adopted similar methods to protect other threatened crane species. Sixteen cranes, recently hatched at the Patuxent Wildlife Research Center in Texas, are being trained to fly and migrate by following an aircraft. Twenty cranes released during the last two years migrated back to Wisconsin from Florida during spring 2003.