An injured whooping crane that was rescued Monday from the Cayuga Duke Energy Power Plant in Vermillion County has died.
State conservation officers retrieved the injured crane, which had a severe break in one of its legs. It was transported to the Indianapolis Zoo. However, it was unable to recover from its injury.
The injury was determined to that of natural causes. Whooping cranes are protected by the endangered species act. The DNR says the legal protections have helped the crane population recover from a few dozen in the 1940s to approximately 500 in the wild today, but its status remains fragile.
