Save Israel's Birds of Prey

Hello birds of prey supporters,

Amongst the information last reported to you was the fact that 4 Griffon vulture chicks are being hand reared behind the scenes at the zoo using a special method to prevent them being imprinted by humans.

You may be interested to know what this method entails: our keepers who hand rear the chicks do not allow the chicks to see their faces so they do not become imprinted by a human face and think that they are human beings. Instead, when feeding them, a hand puppet – fashioned from a taxidermied vulture head and neck – is used to give them food. Thus they become accustomed to identifying as vultures.

Thank you for your continued support of this important wildlife conservation project.

The Avian Team at the Jerusalem Biblical Zoo

Hello birds of prey supporters,

We are happy to report that of the 12 Griffon vulture eggs in our incubators, 9 have hatched successfully! One of these was from a breeding pair at our Zoo, and the rest are eggs collected by the Israel Nature & Parks Authority from all over the country. All eggs are brought to us for incubation to ensure optimal chances for successful hatching. What has become of the hatched chicks? 3 chicks are being raised by parent pairs in our birds of prey aviary at the zoo, 2 chicks were sent to the acclimatization and release center at Hai Bar Carmel in the north of Israel, and 4 are being hand reared behind the scenes at the zoo (using a special method to prevent them being imprinted by humans).

In addition, of the 17 lesser kestrel eggs in our incubators, 10 hatched successfully. 6 chicks are at the acclimatization and release center at Ramat Hanadiv in central Israel, 2 will be added to our breeding aviary at the zoo, and 2 will be released from the zoo in the coming weeks.

Overall, a good result for this breeding season as we had a 75% success rate with the vulture eggs and almost 60% success rate with the lesser kestrels.

Thank you for your continued support of this important wildlife conservation project.

The Avian Team at the Jerusalem Biblical Zoo