Going (Literally) Above And Beyond To Save A Species

The Newest, Cutest Baby Animals from the World's Zoos & Aquariums

Sort by Species / Zoo

Going (Literally) Above And Beyond To Save A Species

April 12, 2022

Posted in Bird, Schoenbrunn Zoo, Zoo Vienna

"We raise waldrapp chicks by hand to imprint them on us. This imprinting is important for reintroducing them to Europe and leading them to the places where they hibernate. My colleague Lisa Kern and I sit in an ultra-light plane and fly to Tuscany in front of them. To further imprint them on us we spend a lot of time with them all day. We smooch them, we cuddle them and of course we feed them. We always wear the identification color yellow. The plane's umbrella is yellow as well."

MORE PHOTOS BELOW THE FOLD!

"Until the 17th century the waldrapp was native to large parts of Central Europe but was eradicated by humans. For 20 years, the Schönbrunn Zoo has been working with numerous partners to reintroduce the waldrapp and has now taken on the coordination of a second Life project. In the context of this project a population of approximately 350 individuals is to be reintroduced. A population this size is capable of surviving on its own so no new waldrapps need to be released. On the one hand, the individuals in the aviary serve as ambassadors for their endangered conspecifics in the wild. On the other hand, the Schönbrunn Zoo coordinates the project, takes care of food, preparation and food storage and provides the space for hand rearing which can be observed here at the zoo until the end of April."

One response to “Going (Literally) Above And Beyond To Save A Species”

Michael

April 12, 2022

Fascinating that, usually, those raising birds for release do everything they can to avoid imprinting (raising condors using only gloves that look like condor heads, for instance). This is the first case I’ve heard of where they WANT the birds to imprint — but the reason makes sense. It’s “Fly Away Home” (which was loosely based on a true story) in real life, with a different species (raise your hand if you’d ever heard of waldrapps before this [they’re also called northern bald ibis, but I’d never heard of that, either]). I guess by the time the birds get to Tuscany, their imprinting phase is over and they don’t mind when the zoo personnel go home.
I have one question. The description mentions “leading them to the places where they hibernate.” Hibernate can’t be right, can it? There are no birds that hibernate, are there? This is a translation problem? They are leading the birds to where they migrate, or spend the winter, or something else.

Loading…

Reply