Two male white back vultures from Safaripark Beekse Bergen have adopted a chick from Blijdorp Zoo. The chick was placed six days after birth at the Vierenkoppel, which took care of the young and thereby contributes to the preservation of this endangered species. That two males raise chickens is not common.
Vieren Aziz and Kadir have been a close couple for a long time and have already built several litters together. “It was the best couple with us: they had built a nest together and were breeding on an art egg,” explains spokesman Linda Engels. For that reason, the zoo saw this torque as the most suitable for the adoption of the chick.
A change trick has been applied to the chick. Vultures usually lay one egg per season, but often lay a second if the first failed. The second egg is quickly replaced with an art egg, after which the real egg came out through the incubator. That male vultures breed eggs and raise chicks happens more often in nature, “but it is not common. That makes it special for us.”
Porters
“In the first instance, they reacted wait and see, but after we placed the eggshells in the nest, they fully accepted the young,” says Kris Jansen, head of animal care of the Hilvarenbeek zoo. “They broke up food and began to feed it with great care,” he explains, and says that it is ‘very good’ with the chick. “Also for male vultures it is an enrichment that they can raise this young.”
The adoption is part of a zoo management program worldwide to successfully raise as many youngsters as possible and thus build a healthy reserve population. It is not going well with many vultures because their survival is threatened by, among others, poachers who poison the cadavers they eat. Only three percent of the original population is left of some vessels.
Restore in the wild
“Whether a young survives depends on a dedicated couple that breeds well and carefully raises the chick,” said Jansen. With the adoption of the white back vulture chicks, the chance of a healthy and larger population is increased. “We hope that this young can eventually even contribute to the restoration of the population in the wild.”
Two years ago, a couple Vale Vultures in the Beekse Bergen also successfully adopted a chick from Blijdorp.