An injured whooping crane is recuperating at the Hiwassee State Wildlife Refuge in Meigs County, according to a news release from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. The female crane was captured Jan. 26 outside Miami after a member of the public reported that she was limping.
She was taken to Disney’s Animal Kingdom, where veterinarians discovered that her right middle toe had become infected after an injury. Veterinarians amputated the toe and kept the crane in isolation. When treating the bird, they were in costume and did not use human voices.
“The longer you hold a bird, the tamer it can become,” said Billy Brooks, the whooping crane coordinator for the Fish and Wildlife Service. “We have to keep them as wild as possible.”
The endangered bird was released Saturday at the Hiwassee refuge and reportedly is doing well.
“She looks like she is adapting to walking on her foot after toe surgery,” said Eve Szyszkoski of the International Crane Foundation. “She is not even limping now and she is flying well.”