UNDATED (WSAU) A Wisconsin whooping crane is back in the wild,
after having one of its toes amputated due to an injury. The
baby crane was among a dozen that flew last fall from the Badger
State to a pair of refuges in Florida, as part of a 12-year-old
effort to boost the population of the endangered bird in the
eastern U-S. According to the Whooping Crane Eastern
Partnership, somebody saw a crane limping on the outskirts of
North Miami early last month. The bird was captured in late
January and taken to Disney’s Animal Kingdom, where
veterinarians amputated its right middle toe. The crane was then
taken to a national refuge in Meigs County Tennessee to be re-
connected with a number of birds, including sandhill cranes. The
baby was released last Saturday. The Eastern Partnership said it
was the first time in the 12 years of the migration program that
an injured bird could re-join other nesting animals after
treatment. The whooper was part of a group of six that left
Horicon, and flew to a reserve in Florida’s