The Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries (LDWF) and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) are looking for leads regarding an endangered whooping crane that was found deceased in January of 2024 in Evangeline Parish.

On the morning of January 9, 2024, a juvenile whooping crane was found dead in an agricultural pond on the south side of Besi Lane in Mamou. A necropsy determined that the crane was shot, which resulted in a fracture of the spine and internal hemorrhaging.

A total of $12,500 is being offered by various organizations for information that leads to the arrest and conviction of the person or persons responsible for the illegal shooting of this whooping crane.  The reward includes the USFWS offering up to $5,000, the Louisiana Wildlife and Fisheries Foundation up to $2,500, the International Crane Foundation up to $2,500, and the Dallas Zoo up to $2,500.

Anyone with information about this case should call the USFWS at 985-882-3756 or the LDWF Lake Charles Office at 337-491-2588. Callers can remain anonymous if they choose.

LDWF with support from partners has released 167 whooping cranes in the state since 2011 in an effort to reintroduce the birds to the state. Another 30 cranes have been hatched and reared in the wild or translocated to Louisiana from a previously reintroduced population in Florida. The Louisiana population is currently estimated to be 81 whooping cranes. This reintroduced population marked the first presence of whooping cranes in the wild in Louisiana since 1950. The crane in this case was released in November of 2023.

Whooping cranes are the most endangered of the world’s crane species. The Louisiana flock is designated as a non-essential, experimental population but is protected under state law, the Endangered Species Act, and the Migratory Bird Treaty Act.