Wood Buffalo's Crane Corner
What do a nature reserve on the balmy Gulf Coast of Texas and a remote corner of one of Canada's most northern parks have in common? Surprisingly, both are seasonal homes to the world's most endangered bird: the whooping crane.

Each September, a few small flocks of whooping cranes make the perilous 4,000 kilometre journey from their summer home in the north-central corner of Wood Buffalo National Park to the Arkansas National Wildlife Refuge in southern Texas. In April, they return to the remote complex of marshes, shallow ponds, lakes, streams and bogs of their Northwest Territories habitat.

Over 1.5 metres tall, with long legs, a snowy white body, jet-black wingtips and red and black head, the lanky whooping crane is known for its massive wingspan — over 2 metres across — and its shrill, bugle-like trumpeting call. Whooping cranes nest in marshy areas among cattails and sedges and eat insects, minnows, crayfish, small birds and rodents. The birds are monogamous, reaching breeding age at an unusually late age of four years.

Summer Home Discovered: Fortunately for the cranes, it was a bush pilot's sharp eyes that drew attention to their presence in the far north. Flying over Wood Buffalo in 1954, the pilot spotted a pair of the elusive birds, solving the mystery of where the cranes went after leaving their Texas wintering grounds. Protection of whooping crane summer breeding habitat expanded the mandate of Wood Buffalo National Park, already established three decades earlier to preserve remaining wild buffalo herds.

Still Endangered: Never numerous, the North American population of wild whooping cranes probably numbered no more than 1,400 in the late 1800's. The conversion of natural nesting grounds to pasture and farmlands in the 19th century, as well as hunting for both meat and sport, brought the species almost to the point of extinction; in 1941, only 16 birds migrated to their Texan wintering grounds. Today, the migrating cranes continue to face several threats on their long flights north and south, including:
· collisions with power lines
· avian tuberculosis, cholera and lead poisoning
· hailstorms, drought and other extreme weather

The delayed breeding age and small clutch size of the whooping crane — only 1 or 2 eggs at a time — have also contributed to its struggle for survival. Captive breeding efforts, launched in 1967, have succeeded in adding to the overall whooping crane numbers, but the Wood Buffalo flocks continue to be the only remaining wild migratory population in existence.

Whooping Crane Interpretive Centre
Visitors to the Slave River area who venture onto Highway 5 through Wood Buffalo National Park en route to the Mackenzie Highway, can learn more about this rarest of bird at the Whooping Crane Pull-Off Interpretive Exhibit. But they won't see a whooping crane; the birds' northern habitat is so remote, so fragile, there is no public access to their nesting sites.

Salty Streams, Saline Marshes
One of the most unusual geological features of the Slave River basin are the Salt Plains, stretching through a 250 square kilometre area on the eastern bank of the river. Here in the Slave River Lowlands, running up against the edge of the Canadian Shield, underground springs transport salt from below the surface, depositing it in sheets and mounds on the flat, open areas of the plain.

Salt-tolerant plants that are normally found only in marine environments thrive on the Salt Plains, and saline marshes provide habitat well suited to bison, waterfowl and shorebirds.

Visitors to Wood Buffalo National Park can stop at the Salt Plains Viewpoint on Highway 5, where they will find an interpretive exhibit, a short trail and a lookout.

Pelicans That Thrive on Peril
You have to hand it to the Slave River pelicans! Unlike the more sedate southerly members of their species (residents of relatively tranquil islands throughout the lakes of western North America), the Slave's hardy birds nest boldly in the centre of some of the most thunderous rapids known to mankind.

Clinging to sparse, jagged granite outcroppings in the middle of the swirling maelstrom known as Mountain Rapids, just south of Fort Smith, the pelicans lay their eggs, raise their chicks and fish in the murky, silt-laden water. They are:
-the only white pelicans known to nest on river islands,
-the only colony to nest so far north.

Over two hundred years ago, in 1789, legendary western explorer Alexander Mackenzie recorded his sighting of white pelicans at the Slave River Rapids. Well-known biologist Ernest Thompson Seton counted 80 nests at the nesting site in 1907, and in 1950, the Canadian Wildlife Service recommended special protection of the colony. In recent years, Alberta government proposals to harness the hydroelectric power of the rapids have raised concern about preservation of the unique Slave River pelican site.