(WBBM NEWSRADIO) – An endangered whooping crane became separated from her flock yesterday and ended up in a neighborhood in Wilmette where she was captured hours later by an organization that raised her.
The whooping crane, nicknamed Animal, was raised in captivity in Wisconsin along with others with names taken from the Muppets.
Anne Lacy, with the International Crane Foundation, says the banded bird, also known as 16-23, is part of a reintroduction program. She became separated from her flock migrating north.
A team drove three hours from Baraboo to Wilmette. Somehow she didn’t fly away. Volunteers with the Chicago Ornithological Society assisted.
Lacy says one of her team members wore a crane costume to capture the bird.
“16-23 recognized the costume, so when Hillary Thompson went in and donned the costume and kind of gingerly walked up to her she was not spooked.”
She was back in a familiar marsh in Wisconsin before nightfall.
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