HOUSTON - The Houston Zoo’s new Texas Wetlands Exhibit showcases some whooping cranes that were relocated from Maryland after their federally funded habitat closed last year. ARTICLE CONTINUES BELOWSo in 1966, scientists at the Maryland-based Patuxent Wildlife Research Center launched a captive breeding program to boost the numbers. But that centre was shut last year after the Trump administration ousted the $1.5 million-a-year breeding program run by the U.S. Geological Survey. “Whooping cranes are still endangered, but the overall population has grown more than tenfold in the last 50 years since Patuxent’s program began,” John French, a director of the Patuxent centre, said in March. Every year, the whooping cranes journey 2,600 miles (4,200 kilometres) from Canada to the Aransas National Wildlife Refuge.

Source: thestar June 09, 2019 17:15 UTC