Two East African crowned crane chicks at the San Diego Zoo Safari Park took a walk with their keeper early Friday as part of their daily exercise routine.
The young female chicks, hatched 26 and 28 days ago, need daily exercise to strengthen their feet and long legs and to gain balance before they can join the adult birds in the Safari Park's African Plains habitat, the Safari Park said.
East African crowned cranes get their name from the tall, stiff, golden feathers that cover their head when full grown. The young birds currently are light brown, but as they mature will turn slate gray with dark gray to black feathers with chestnut markings. Their cheek patches will be white and red and they will stand approximately 4 feet tall.
