A new 3,300-acre Texas sanctuary protects the endangered whooping crane’s vital winter habitat.

A 3,300-acre sanctuary named the Wolfberry Whooping Crane Sanctuary has been established along Texas’s coast to protect the endangered whooping crane, one of North America’s rarest birds. The sanctuary, created by the International Crane Foundation, The Conservation Fund, and the Coastal Bend Bays & Estuaries Program, safeguards critical winter habitat for the last self-sustaining wild flock, which migrates annually from Canada. Once down to 16 birds in the 1940s, their population has grown to over 550 due to conservation efforts, though threats from urban development, climate change, sea level rise, and habitat loss persist. The area also supports other endangered species like the aplomado falcon and black rail.