Vulture conservation history was made on 15 February 2015 with the release of ten captive bred Cape vultures at VulPro. These chicks took their first flight into the wild to join the Magaliesberg’s Cape vultures, marking the initiation of a population recovery plan which has taken years of preparation.
Seven captive bred Cape vultures from VulPro and three from the National Zoological Gardens were released into VulPro’s open-top enclosure, Moving birds to the open-top enclosure allowed them to ‘release’ themselves when they feel ready to leave.
Each vulture was fitted with a tracking device on to its back to monitor their movements with locality readings, altitude, speed, temperature and direction every 15 minutes.
Cape vultures are endemic to southern Africa and classified as regionally endangered and globally vulnerable with under 4 000 breeding pairs remaining.
- See more at: http://africageographic.com/blog/captive-bred-vultures-fly-free/#sthash.8iAqTZLO.dpuf
No comments:
Post a Comment