Nice to see a full brood of two young, parent-reared. A classic Whipsnade species, pity we have to call them 'Red-crowned' nowadays, as it suggests they are something to do with Crowned Cranes, which they are not. 'Manchurian' gives a bit more of the flavour of their native habitat, although I believe it is considered potentially offensive to the Chinese. Or somebody.
I agree with you about the name; I have always known this species as Manchurian crane and I’ll never get used to calling it red-crowned crane.
I am always reluctant to start using new names; similarly, I always think of white-tailed gnu not black wildebeest; monkey-eating eagle not Philippine eagle; Prince Alfred’s deer not Philippine spotted deer.......etc
Red-crowned crane does seem a poor choice of name anyway as several other species in the genus Grus have red on their heads.
Agree with the comment about Cervus alfredi, but 'wildebeest' has the big advantage over 'gnu' that you can't make a prat of yourself by pronouncing it wrong. While we're at it, can we go back to calling Maras Patagonian Cavies/Hares?
Jersey haven't got any but if you visited a number of mainland UK zoos you might have..
They used originally to be labelled as 'Cape Hunting Dog'(correct name) this later became changed to 'African Hunting Dog' then to 'Painted Hunting Dog' or 'Painted Wolf' though these last are 'trendy' names- I think more places have stayed with African Hunting Dog.
Jersey haven't got any but if you visited a number of mainland UK zoos you might have..
They used originally to be labelled as 'Cape Hunting Dog'(correct name) this later became changed to 'African Hunting Dog' then to 'Painted Hunting Dog' or 'Painted Wolf' though these last are 'trendy' names- I think more places have stayed with African Hunting Dog.
I've also never seen 'Painted Wolf' as the main common name, though you sometimes see it given as a translation of the scientific name. I'd have said the most common name used was African Wild Dog (this is the name I tend to use).
