In New York, a special approach is being used at a zoo to raise a baby vulture, with caretakers employing an interesting method to nurture the chick without it becoming overly familiar with humans. To achieve this, the baby vulture is being fed using a hand puppet, a practice that has been in place for several decades to prevent the young birds from imprinting on their human caretakers.
These efforts come as a precautionary measure by the Bronx Zoo, since king vultures are known to sometimes neglect their chicks. To counteract this, zoo staff have resorted to hand-feeding to improve the chick’s chances of survival. However, to prevent the chick from forming a bond with humans, the zoo has designed a puppet resembling an adult vulture. This puppet helps direct the young bird’s instincts toward what would naturally be its parental figure in the wild.
Chuck Cerbini, the Bronx Zoo’s Curator of Ornithology, explained that at this critical stage of development, they are using the puppet for feeding the chick once daily. The team is committed to ensuring the chick does not become attached to humans and instead recognizes the puppet as its feeder.
In practice, the feeding involves a person with their arm clothed in black, maneuvering the puppet that mimics a vulture’s head and beak to deliver food directly into the chick’s mouth. This setup not only provides sustenance but also helps in behavioral conditioning. An adult king vulture is housed in a nearby enclosure, offering the chick the chance to observe and learn proper vulture behavior.
The Bronx Zoo has a longstanding history with this technique, having pioneered it over 40 years ago. It initially assisted in raising three Andean condor chicks, which were subsequently released into the wild in Peru. Moreover, similar hand-puppet tactics have been vital in conservation efforts aimed at reviving the critically endangered California condor population.
The zoo’s latest addition, a king vulture chick still awaiting a name, holds significance as it represents the first hatching of its kind at the Bronx Zoo since the 1990s. This birth marks an important moment for the zoo, as they aim to preserve the genetic legacy of the chick’s father who, at 55 years old, has just one other living offspring.