Festival offers opportunity to learn about the whooping crane

There is a possibility Experience Louisiana Festival-goers will be among the first to see a whooping crane mascot in the Walk Through Louisiana area of the festival.
The festival is scheduled Oct. 17 and 18 at the Louisiana State University Eunice campus.
Carrie Salyers, a biologist and education outreach coordinator for the Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries, said the mascot was recently ordered and may be ready for the festival.
The festival is an opportunity to share with the public the work that is being done with the Louisiana whooping crane.
“So many times the game species, waterfowl and deer, are in the spotlight all of the time and a lot of times the threatened and endangered species not so much,” Salyers said.
The whooping crane is one of the world’s most endangered cranes, she said. Of the 600 whooping cranes alive, only 39 exist in the wild in Louisiana, she said.
One reason bringing the project to the Experience Louisiana Festival is Eunice is in the habitat range of the whooping cranes, she said.
“The birds are still teaching us,” she said. “This project began in 2011 so we don’t have all the answers. The birds are still teaching us the habitat they prefer. It seems to be that the rice and crawfish fields is where they spend a lot of their time.”
The project is based at White Lake Wetlands Conservation Area south of Gueydan.
Salyers said some people may mistake whooping cranes for other birds. But the whooping crane is a up to 5-feet tall and has wingspan of up to 8 feet.
The project is an effort by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, the U.S. Geological Survey, the International Crane Foundation and the Louisiana Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Unit.
Contact Harlan Kirgan at harlan.kirgan@eunicetoday.com.