ficially incubated for propagation. Hatching failure 

 of 15 wild eggs was attributed to desertion (4); 

 rotten eggs (2); eggs missing (3); crow depreda- 

 tion (3); chick dying in eggs (1); and eggs cracked 

 by flushing birds (2). Human disturbance can be 

 credited with at least 5 egg losses; crow depreda- 

 tions occurred during periods when cranes were 

 off nests after being frightened by humans. Two 

 eggs were broken by cranes flushed from nests by 

 humans. The fate of three missing eggs is un- 

 known; some eggs found were outside the nest 

 after desertion. Heavy rains are known to destroy 

 some eggs. Cranes attend nests constantly and so 

 are not normally subject to robbing by birds or 

 mammals. Crows have not been abundant untU 

 recently, when sanitary fill dumps along the road 

 now attract hundreds of them. Raccoons are 

 present but not numerous in the breeding range 

 (Walkinshaw 1973; Valentine in Recovery Team 

 for the Mississippi Sandhill Crane 1976). 



Poor hatchability of eggs, weak chicks and 

 foot and leg deformities in chicks have been noted 

 in cases of captive chicks hatched from eggs in in- 

 cubators. Relatively low hatchability and survival 

 is thought by some to be due to genetic problems 

 resulting from inbreeding because of the obviously 

 small gene pool. On the other hand, J. M. Valen- 

 tine has observed 10 wild chicks, all free of ap- 

 parent defects (Valentine 1978 pers. comm.). 

 Another chick died while trying to break out of 

 the egg (Recovery Team for the Mississippi Sand- 

 hill Crane 1976). Chicks are able to scramble off 

 the nest at 8 hours of age and can swim if neces- 

 sary (Walkinshaw 1973). 



MANAGEMENT AND CONSERVATION 



Restoration of this population of sandhill 

 cranes began before it was recognized as a distinct 

 subspecies, with the rearing of young hatched 

 from eggs taken from wild nests in Mississippi. 

 Captive propagation has been at the Patuxent 

 Wildlife Research Center, Laurel, Maryland. The 

 intent was to reintroduce the propagated stock 

 into the wild. Acquisition and restoration of habi- 

 tat in the present range and adjoining areas and 

 rerouting proposed sections of Interstate Highway 

 10 were proposed as essential protection measures 

 (U.S. Fish and Wildhfe Service 1973). 



As of 20 September 1976, a Mississippi Sand- 

 hill Crane Recovery Team, with Jacob M. Valen- 

 tine as leader, was appointed by the U.S. Fish and 



Wildlife Service, and a recovery plan approved 

 in September 1976 was revised in 1978 (Recovery 

 Team for the Mississippi Sandhill Crane 1976). 

 Lands available for crane occupancy are 

 limited. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has 

 proposed some refuge lands which are the best 

 available that still contain either nesting cranes or 

 potential nesting habitat. With the assistance of 

 the Nature Conservancy, the Service acquired 

 3,490 ha of habitat in two units and has estab- 

 Ushed the Mississippi Sandhill Crane National 

 Wildlife Refuge. A habitat management plan for 

 the refuge was completed by the Service on 28 

 March 1975 (Morine 1975; Recovery Team for 

 the Mississippi Sandhill Crane 1976). In June 

 1977, 202 ha of forest and savanna v^dthin the 

 breeding range of the Sandhill Crane refuge were 

 burned for the purpose of opening the cover and 

 improving nesting habitat Qacob Valentine in lit 

 15 June 1977). 



Competition with other animals for food or 

 living space need not be a concern of management, 

 as there are few competitors in the crane's range. 

 Closing of the open range policy in the 1950's 

 prohibited cattle and hog grazing on timber com- 

 pany holdings, and cattle are now confined to 

 better grazing lands. Deer are scarce but are in- 

 creasing as trees and brush invade the savannas 

 (Valentine, pers. comm.). Management of the 

 crane range should not include improvement of 

 the habitat for deer or game birds, as this would 

 create a demand for hunting there as well as make 

 the habitat less suitable for cranes (Recovery 

 Team for the Mississippi Sandhill Crane 1976). 



The Fish and Wildlife Service has conducted a 

 study and propagation program at the Patuxent 

 Wildlife Research Center with the objective of 

 rearing 10 captive breeding pairs to produce young 

 cranes for transplanting to suitable habitat within 

 the range of the Mississippi Sandhill Crane. Up to 

 the present, 14 captive birds have been produced 

 at Patuxent from Mississippi-taken eggs; several 

 captive pairs reared have laid eggs and from these, 

 2 have been raised (Ray Erickson pers. comm, 

 1978). 



The U.S. Forest Service, in cooperation with 

 Fish and Wildlife Service and the Mississippi 

 Game and Fish Commission, will clear and main- 

 tain two areas in the DeSoto National Forest in an 

 effort to improve crane habitat. No cranes are 

 nesting there at present. 



