Hope Takes Wing

This production chronicles the history of the Whooping crane, while highlighting the OM-developed reintroduction method currently being used to safeguard the species from extinction. Hope Takes Wing details the 2003 southward ultralight-guided journey, and finishes with the cranes somewhat different return trip north in the spring of 2004. Of the 15 crane species worldwide, 11 are either threatened or endangered. The Whooping crane is the most imperiled, with fewer than 400 wild individuals remaining today. Hope Takes Wing chronicles the history of the Whooping crane and highlight reintroduction methods developed by Operation Migration, Inc., a small Canada/U.S.-based nonprofit organization. Combined with the support of the Whooping Crane Eastern Partnership, Operation Migration is working hard to safeguard this 60-million-year-old species from extinction. See how this dedicated team uses ultralight aircraft, ingenuity, and a bit of extreme science to restore a migratory population of Whooping cranes to the eastern half of North America, an area from which these birds were wiped out more than a century ago. Follow along on a 1,200-mile ultralight-guided journey as Operation Migration pilots lead a young flock of Whooping cranes from Wisconsin to Florida and, ultimately, toward survival of the species.

• documentary