Canus to the rescue!
A Canadian bird has made history and it is not the bird that you might
expect. A whooping crane, a bird that was nearing extinction in 1964,
was discovered in near the Alberta border's Wood Buffalo National Park.
When found, Canus was only a few months old and was a member of an almost
extinct species. It was a Canadian Wild Life Services scientist who
discovered Canus nearly 39 years ago. The bird was located within the
marshland environment of one of the most beautiful parkland areas known
as the Wood Buffalo National Park.
Canus was named after Canada and the United States; the two countries
that shared custody of this species. During the summer months, the whooping
crane would spend time in Canada and during the winter, the crane would
migrate to the south in hopes of finding warmer weather.
The bird would become the saviour of the whooping crane population.
When Canus was discovered it was important for the bird to help re-establish
the species. At this time there were only 42 whooping cranes still left
in the wild.
A custody fight over the remains of the bird ensued; but it was a motion
by the International Whooping Crane Recovery Team that paved the way
for this special bird to return to his homeland. Fort Smith's museum
will be the final resting place for Canus who died last month.
Canus, during his lengthy career injured his wing on more than one
occasion; the last time he lost his wing as a result of the injury he
sustained.
The difficulties that Canus may have experienced in terms of being
the sole sire of many of the next generations cranes was not further
complicated by the loss of his wing.
The bird lost his wing while in captivity, but this did not stop Canus
from becoming the solution to the endangered species. During the time,
he helped to pioneer a breeding program; uniquely designed to work with
birds already in captivity. Canus would help to re-establish the endangered
species by siring whooping cranes. In all, the whooping crane population
had increased by 186; of which Canus was the sire, grand-sire, or great-grand-sire.
