Perennially endangered and for decades absent from these marshy wetlands, Louisiana’s whooping cranes can add another milestone to their long journey back from the brink of extinction: They survived 2020. Fewer than 700 whooping cranes exist in the wild in North America, 74 of which belong to a non-migratory population that nests in southwest Louisiana, according to the state. Once numbering above 10,000 nationwide, habitat loss and hunting left fewer than 40 whooping cranes alive by 1947. In Louisiana, where a native flock had long resided year round, only one remained. After that lone crane was relocated to Texas in 1950 in an effort to keep the species alive, the Bayou State was devoid of native whooping cranes until the Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries began its current repopulation effort and released 10 captivity-raised cranes in 2011, said LDWF wildlife biologist Sara Zimorski.