EVANGELINE PARISH — Three people were cited after separate incidents involving the shooting of whopping cranes.
The Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries (LDWF) agents cited two people for shooting an endangered whooping crane on a crawfish pond in Evangeline Parish on March 3. Then, on April 13, agents cited another person for shooting a second whooping crane on a different crawfish farm in the parish.
Whooping cranes are native to Louisiana but were once nearly wiped out, leading to their listing as an endangered species in 1970. LDWF is currently working to bring the species back.
Sara Zimorski, a wildlife biologist with the department, said the recent deaths hinder their efforts.
"When you have a small population, every bird matters, and so having two lost to shooting just in a short span of time this year is a setback for the program," she said.
Corporal Tib Guillory with LDWF said, "It is a bird that has only a population of approximately 80, and they’re trying to reintroduce or increase the numbers, and someone taking even one bird can significantly impact the population going forward."
To track the progress of the reintroduction, the birds are banded with tracking collars. Biologists are alerted when a tracker becomes inactive.
Despite the setback, the department is preparing for the next generation of cranes.
Zimorski said, "In the springtime, starting soonish, and throughout the rest of the spring, we’ll be hopefully having eggs produced, and they will hatch and raise those chicks. And then in the fall, we will receive a small group of those juvenile cranes—who will, at that point, be fully grown, but still a young bird— to release, and we release them here on the white lake wetlands conservation area property."
She emphasized that farmers and the cranes can share the land.
"Whooping cranes can coexist on private property in rice and crawfish fields, so it’s not something to immediately be concerned about," Zimorski said.
"The first solution is not to shoot and kill the bird," she said.
To report illegal activity related to whooping cranes, contact the Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries Law Enforcement Division at 800-442-2511.
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