After conservation efforts to bring the number of surviving whooping cranes from 15 in 1941 to the 266 alive today, the bird's existence is once again facing a threat from an unlikely source.

Wind farms in Texas pose a dual threat to the whooping crane, who migrate to the state from Canada during the fall season. One threat is the potential of the birds flying into large wind turbines and transmission lines, and the other is the loss of habitat as the development of wind farms picks up speed.

"Basically you can overlay the strongest, best areas for wind turbine development with the whooping crane migration corridor," said Tom Stehn, whooping crane coordinator for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. "Even if they avoid killing the cranes, the wind farms would be taking hundreds of square miles of migration stopover habitat away from the cranes," Stehn said.

The manager of the American Wind Energy Association acknowledges the threat and hopes to limit any negative impact on the cranes, but also points out that there is a demand for the development of clean, renewable energy such as the type generated by wind power.

It is estimated that approximately 40,000 wind turbines could be erected along the migration corridor of the whooping crane. Incidentally the flock of whooping cranes that migrates from Canada to Texas each year is the only surviving one that is self-sustaining, making it the best chance of survival for the species. In an effort to minmize harmful effects on wildlife, the U.S. Department of the Interior has developed a Wind Turbine Advisory Committee.

» Associated Press