Photo: Whooping Cranes, Ultralight Planes Take Flight on Annual Migration

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Two whooping cranes wade through the water at Aransas National Wildlife Refuge in Texas.

Today ultralight planes piloted by disguised humans led 18 of the endangered birds on the first leg of a 1,200-mile (1,900-kilometer) journey from Wisconsin to Florida. Scientists are raising whooping crane chicks and teaching them how to migrate with the hope of introducing a self-sustaining flock to the eastern U.S.

Photograph by Joel Sartore/National Geographic/Getty Images

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