Zoo Animal of the Year 2026: Crowned Crane

The Zoo Animal of the Year 2026 is the crowned crane. Through this species conservation campaign, conservationists worldwide are drawing attention to the endangered status of this beautiful African bird. The crowned crane genus (Balearica) includes the grey crowned crane and the black crowned crane. Their populations are declining dramatically due to habitat loss and illegal hunting.

For this reason, Kranichschutz Deutschland has been working for the past 10 years to protect grey crowned cranes in African countries such as Kenya and Tanzania, in collaboration with the NABU Foundation International. For example, we supported the training of local crane counters during the first monitoring exercise in Tanzania in 2022. By tagging Grey Crowned Cranes in Kenya, important data has already been collected and used to establish a protected area. Next year, we will once again play an active role in the nationwide monitoring programme in Kenya and help to collect baseline data on the threats to the population.

Please support our work to protect crowned cranes in Africa with a donation! As a thank you, you will receive a grey crowned crane sticker for every €10 you donate!