Whooping Cranes Followed Costumed Pilots

In 2001, conservationists began restoring an eastern migration route for endangered whooping cranes by training captive-raised chicks to follow an ultralight plane. The pilot wore a crane costume, while handlers used disguises and crane puppets to keep the chicks from imprinting on humans. The birds followed the plane about 1,200 miles from Wisconsin to Florida, then flew north on their own the following spring.

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