By Rachael Risby Raz | International Relations Manager
A new arrival at the Zoo's Birds of Prey Department is the lappet-faced vulture.
Known in Hebrew as ozniat hanegev, meaning “the powerful one”, and mentioned twice in the Bible, the lappet-faced vulture has been regionally extinct in Israel since the 1980's.
There were 25-30 pairs bred in the Arava and Negev until the 1950s and the last breeding event in the western Negev was in the Nizzana-Shivta area, in 1966.
In 1973, 11 pairs bred in the Arava. This number decreased to 4 pairs in 1980 and one pair in 1986-1989. The last nesting event was recorded in 1989 in the Yotvata area. One pair remained in the Sde Boker area until 1993 and a few vagrants were seen in Israel in the 1990s.
(Source: Israel Nature and Parks Authority)
These magnificent birds live in the desert and in wadis (valleys) with acacia trees and are the most powerful of all of the vultures. Other vultures gather around tough-hided carrion and wait for the lappet-faced vulture to arrive and rip the carcass open with its beak.
With the normalization agreement between the United Arab Emirates and Israel, we hope to be able to start a collaboration with the local conservation authorities and zoos there to see how we can work together to preserve these species who are native to the region.
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