Conservation and Management

Low annual recruitment rates limit ability of Sandhill Cranes to recover from population declines. G. c. pulla and nesiotes are currently protected under the federal Endangered Species Act. Reintroductions of captive-reared birds have been necessary to maintain the population of G. c. pulla (Ellis et al. 1992), where 75% to 80% of the current population was captive-produced.

Maintenance of essential habitats is the primary need for all populations of Sandhill Cranes. Wetland conservation is particularly important in the ranges of nonmigratory populations, and in staging and wintering areas of migratory populations. For example, fewer than 20 salt lakes in w. Texas provide roost areas for up to 80% of the mid-continent population during winter. These lakes, and wet-meadow areas associated with the North Platte and Platte River valleys in Nebraska where 80% of mid-continent cranes stage in spring, should be primary foci of habitat conservation efforts.

Low recruitment rates also emphasize the need for careful management of the mid-continent population that is hunted, mostly by pass-shooting, occasionally over decoys. The size of both the Western and (particularly) Gulf Coast subpopulations, and their harvest rates, need to be closely monitored. Past harvests have been and continue to be reliably documented in the U.S. and Canada. In the Central Flyway, this species has been hunted since 1961. Harvest in 1990, including crippling losses, was about 31,700, or 5.4% of the fall population (Sharp and Vogel 1992). Hunting by natives in Canada and Alaska, and all hunting in Mexico and Siberia, has not been adequately documented. Substantial improvements in annual surveys are needed to monitor subpopulation trends with acceptable accuracy and precision.