and Losers (NAPSA)—Thewhooping crane and the Florida panther are both featured in a new report from the National Wildlife Federation (NWF) highlighting the nation’s recent wildlife victories and setbacks. In The Best and Worst for Wildlife report, whooping cranes come out the wildlife winners thanks to a trio of successes over the past year. For example, a group of birds recently migrated on their own without help from an ultralight plane. The number of whoopers, America’s tallest bird, has increased in this country from 15 to 400 birds over the last several decades. The Florida panther on the other hand, ranks as thereport’s wildlife loser. Fewer than 100 Florida panthers remain in the wild due to habitat destruction in southwest Florida. To turn this situation around, NWF believes the government must do more to protect panther habitat by better controlling development. The full Best and Worst for Wildlife report with other conservation winners and losers can be viewed on NWF’s Web site at www.nwf.org/bestandworst/.
