Zoo Atlanta celebrates its first successful hatching of endangered vulture

ATLANTA — Zoo Atlanta is celebrating an exciting first in its history: the hatching of an endangered lappet-faced vulture chick. The chick is the first generation of parents Amana and Anubis and reflects as a success more than 10 years in the making for the pair.

Anubis, a 16-year-old male, has lived at Zoo Atlanta since 2008. Anubis was joined by female Amana in 2010, now 18 years old, based on a breeding recommendation from the Association of Zoos and Aquariums' (AZA) Lappet-faced Vulture Species Survival Plan (SSP). Prior to this hatching, the pair has had many failed breeding attempts and produced 12 infertile eggs over eight years, making the chick's arrival a triumph for both its parents and the team responsible for their care.

Nest-building is crucial to maintaining pair bonds among lappet-faced vultures, and so is the effort to make Amana and Anubis have every opportunity to engage in this activity.

The Bird Team built a nesting platform inside the vultures' indoor area, where it would be protected from the elements, and provided twigs and sticks for selection by the birds daily. Over five months, the vultures added to and finished the nest, and soon after, they laid two eggs, both of which were infertile; the third and final egg of the season was fertile.

Since Amana and Anubis were inexperienced parents, the Bird Team removed the egg to an artificial incubator and replaced it with a "dummy" egg, allowing the vultures to continue incubating. The chick hatched 54 days later on April 24 and was reintroduced to its parents after 10 days of hand-rearing by the team as a precaution.

The hatching represents a critical success for a species in need of conservation. Lappet-faced vultures are primarily threatened by both intentional and unintentional poisoning, as well as by collisions with man-made structures – challenges shared by many of their fellow African vulture species.

Although the Zoo hasn't shown the chick yet to the public, guests can go behind the scenes for highlights of the efforts leading up to its hatching and insights into its care with a special social media takeover by the Bird Team on Zoo Atlanta Facebook and Instagram on Thursday, June 3.

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