Thai zoo breeds endangered vultures

Thai zoo breeds endangered vultures to help maintain their numbers and to see them soar again, Rueters repoted on Sunday.

Thai conservationist Watchiradol Phangpanya puts on a black, long-sleeved shirt, red gloves, and a red balaclava four times a day to imitate an endangered red-headed vulture feeding its baby.

The chick is covered in white fuzz which turns into black feathers as it grows, and it is the first red-headed, or Asian King vulture, to be bred in Asia and is the second in the world.

Watchiradol and his colleagues at the Nakhon Ratchasima Zoo in northeast Thailand want to ensure that new bred in captivity do not imprint on humans to be prepared for eventual release into the wild.

“It’s necessary … to disguise ourselves as a bird, thereby leading them to see us as closest to what their parents would look like,” said Watchiradol. He also said that this method helps in developing the bird’s natural instincts.

However, the vulture is being fed rabbit, deer, rat meat, and chicken to simulate its diet in the wild, the chick then warms up in the sun for Vitamin D.

“Is there enough nutrition in its food? Or is it receiving too much? At every moment, worries will persist,” he said.

Moreover, the red-headed vulture plays a crucial role in the ecosystem by consuming animal carcasses, however, the species is currently extinct in the wild in Thailand.

“The most crucial aspect of our success would be to enhance the ecosystem of the UNESCO heritage site, Huai Kha Khaeng Wildlife Sanctuary,” said the zoo director Thanachon Kensingh.