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Imagine that you lived 10 million, yeah, million years ago. If you did, you could have seen Black-Crowned cranes strutting their stuff on the prairies of Kansas or Iowa. Today Black-Crowned cranes live on the grasslands of the Sahel region of Africa. The Sahel is south of the Sahara Desert and north of the tropical rainforests of Africa.
Many things are threatening these beautiful cranes. A drought that started in 1973 and lasted for 13 years made it hard for the cranes and people. People built dams on rivers to get water for their fields. This either completely flooded the nests of the cranes or dried out their homes. People are also building homes and destroying crane habitats. Farms and factories have polluted the land with chemicals. For many years, hunters have killed the cranes and stolen their eggs for food.
The Black-Crowned crane is the national bird of Nigeria. In some places, it is a symbol of good luck, but it cannot bring good luck until we cure the problems in its environment.
©2000
The Wild Ones
c/o Wildlife Trust
61 Route 9W, Palisades, NY 10964-8000
Tel: 845.365.8337 Fax: 845.365.8177