Probe: Whooping crane shot with rifle

VINCENNES, Ind. (AP) - State and federal officials are recommending charges against two southwestern Indiana men in the killing of an endangered whooping crane.

The whooping crane was found fatally shot in January in Knox County. The male bird was part of a nesting pair of cranes taught their migratory path by following ultra-light aircraft.

Indiana conservation officers and U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service agents found evidence the crane was killed at night with a high-powered rifle guided by a spotlight. Prosecutors are reviewing their recommendations that two men be charged in the killing.

Whooping cranes are North America's largest birds, standing over 5 feet tall. Their numbers dwindled to only 15 birds in 1941, but conservation efforts have boosted their numbers to about 600 birds