Grey Crowned Cranes have been maintained at Jersey since 1959, which makes this species, together with gorillas (the first one of which arrived in that same year), the species maintained there for the longest period of time. Species come and species go, and I've always thought it rather strange that Jersey should have continued with Crowned Cranes all these years when they're not endangered. Nice birds though.
I imagine they keep them as an iconic wetland species; they attract the visitor's attention to the issues around threatened wetland environments. The other Crane species in the collection -- White-naped & Stanley -- are considerably rarer.
In the sme way, Jersey's [non-endangered] Meerkats serve as a flagship species for desert environments.
Possibly less relevant to the Durrell eths, but equally valid in my view -- Crowned Cranes and Meerkats do well under captive conditions and are attractive -- good zoo subjects.
