Posted: Feb 22, 2013 3:05 PM by Juan Acuna -
firstname.lastname@example.org Updated: Feb 22, 2013 6:42 PM
ARANSAS COUNTY, TX - Whooping cranes spend the winter season at
the Aransas National Wildlife Refuge near Austwell, TX. After
one of the endangered cranes was accidentally shot and killed by
a hunter on San Jose Island earlier this year, there's concern
the cranes may be moving away from the refuge. Out on a large
and remote location in Aransas County is the 115,000 acre
Aransas National Wildlife Refuge, a prime location for
endangered whooping cranes that are wintering in the area. Back
into the 1940's the whooping crane numbers were only into the
teens, but thanks to the efforts of the refuge, those numbers
have grown past 200. Due to the incident on San Jose Island, we
asked wildlife officials if they're worried cranes are placing
themselves at risk as they move outside the refuge. Whooping
crane coordinator, Dr. Wade Harrell, with the U.S. Fish &
Wildlife Service said, "There always is concern no one