Tracking what's alive on Earth and what affects it.
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On the wall: 1,000 or fewer left in the wild
Whooping crane (Aransas-Wood Buffalo population)
540
Estimate, with range, in its survey area
January 2026
Grus americana
Canada (Wood Buffalo National Park) to the Texas coast, USA
Counted January 2026, by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.
The latest number for the Aransas-Wood Buffalo population of the whooping crane is about 540 (482.7 to 608.8), an estimate with a range, counted in January 2026 by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.
About 540 (482.7 to 608.8) whooping cranes wintered on the Texas coast in January 2026, about the same as the year before, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service reports.
How it was counted
The estimate comes from aerial surveys of the primary survey area on the Texas coast wintering grounds, using a method the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service calls hierarchical distance sampling. The figure covers that area only, and more cranes were documented outside it during the survey.
An estimate for the primary survey area on the Texas coast wintering grounds: about 540 cranes is the most likely figure, and the range (482.7 to 608.8) is how far either way the true number could sit.
Earlier figures
- 557 in January 2025: the previous count. Source: U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.
What moves it
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service reports the number as about the same as the previous figure (557, January 2025). The Service names these pressures: habitat lost or altered by wetland drainage, development and farming; less fresh water reaching the Texas coast; roads, power lines and wind farms along the migration route; and more frequent and severe drought with climate change, which, with lower river flows, degrades the roosts cranes use on migration.
- habitat loss and alteration (wetland drainage, development, farming). Source: U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.
- less fresh water reaching the Texas coast. Source: U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.
- roads, power lines and wind farms along the migration corridor. Source: U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.
- more frequent and severe drought with climate change, and lower river flows, which degrade migration roost habitat. Source: U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.
Who is helping
Canada and the United States cooperate across the border, with state and federal governments, zoos, conservation groups and private citizens taking part. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service says strict legal protection, habitat preservation and captive breeding, together with that cooperation, have helped the species' recovery.
The next count
The count is annual (no survey in some winters). No date for the next survey is known as of 12 November 2026.
Sources
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service
- U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Last checked 12 November 2026.
- Whooping Crane (Grus americana) Last checked 12 November 2026.
What changed
- 12 November 2026 Added to Live Species, on the wall (1,000 or fewer): 540, between 482.7 and 608.8 (Estimate, with range, January 2026).
Next on the wall
The letter
The letter comes once a month, on the first Thursday. It gives what changed on Live Species, one animal up close and the humans figure for contrast.