NEW ORLEANS (AP) -- Audubon Zoo curator Dan Maloney fears the worst as he searches for the zoo's waterfowl following Hurricane Katrina.

Maloney says they are wondering what has happened to two-month-old West African crowned cranes.

The zoo staff had decided to leave the waterfowl out in the open aviary during the storm.

Maloney says those birds tend to flail about when confined inside bathrooms or closets and often die at a higher rate than they would if left in the open.

Maloney's worried search ended in relief when he saw one of the adult cranes walking.

The Audubon Zoo did lose some animals.

Zookeepers have been too busy feeding survivors to take a census, but casualties included two sea otters that were moved from their normal environment to different waters and died from stress during the days after the storm.

Audubon Zoo

(Copyright 2005 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)