Whooping crane, Life in Crisis: Schad Gallery of Biodiversity

Chosen by: Mark Peck

Ornithology Technician, Natural History

One of my favourite objects would have to be the whooping crane mount in the Schad Gallery. It is a wonderful taxidermic mount created by Peter Knapton. What makes this one so special is the process. The whooping crane is an endangered species and I thought it would be almost impossible to find a specimen for the Species at Risk case. Fortunately the Calgary Zoo has an active breeding program and had several whooping cranes that had died over the years put away in their freezers. They were old, not in very good shape and had all undergone a necropsy to determine cause of death. Fortunately, the zoo was able to send us a couple of frozen birds and Peter was able to take bits and pieces from each to complete the wonderful mount now on display in Schad.