From the Lawrence Daily Journal-World for Dec. 6, 1987:

An unusual late autumn visit by three rare whooping cranes caused a Kansas wildlife refuge to be closed to hunters this week. The two adult birds and a chick, traveling about a month behind the other birds that flew along the Central Flyway between Canada and Texas each spring and fall, had stopped at the Quivira National Wildlife Refuge, causing the refuge to be closed to hunting for ducks, geese, pheasant and quail until the birds resumed their southward journey. It was not known why the three cranes were lagging so far behind the rest, but it was speculated that they might have been “taking time out for the young one,” according to assistant refuge manager Karen Cartlidge. The North American birds were making a slow comeback after their total population had been dropped to 15 in 1941.