At the brink of extinction, there were 20 living birds in 1950. Recent propagation of this species at the International Crane Center in Baraboo, Wisconsin has increased the total to over 400 living birds. Efforts in this process involved using closely related Sandhill Cranes as foster parents and preventing young birds from imprinting on humans. Ultra light aircraft have been used to lead these young to Florida wintering grounds; young have flown in spring northwards on their own but a few have flown astray to Minnesota and New York. An entire flock but one was killed by a storm in the autumn of 2006. This incident shows that however encouraging results this far have been, threats to the survivors can not be taken lightly.

I rank these specimens equal to the Trumpeter swan, Greater Prairie chicken and Swallow-tailed Kite in terms of their struggles with extirpation or extinction; like them, these specimens are irreplaceable haunting reminders of our nation’s history. Those alive today offer hopes for survival of the species into the future and public awareness of their plight today, therefore needs to be strongly promoted.
– Dick Oehlenschlager, Biology