Hand-raising in Vienna
Newsletter, 18.04.2015
Yesterday, April 17th, 16 northern bald Ibis chicks where taken out of their nests at the Tierpark Rosegg in Carinthia and transferred to Zoo Vienna. There, they will be handraised by the two human foster parents Corinna Esterer ad Anne-Gabriela Schmalstieg. From today on, visitors of Zoo Vienna can experience the handraising work live. Raising takes place in a container, located near the bald ibis aviary.
For the first time in our project, also a second group with 16 chicks will be raised, by the fostering team Lara Cibulski und Pablo Przesang. They will collect their chicks next week, from the sedentary colonies Tierpark Rosegg and Konrad-Lorenz Research Station.
About mid of May, the birds and their foster parents change to two trainings camps, located in the country of Salzburg, north of lake Wallersee. There, we train the birds to follow a microlight aeroplane. End of August they will be led across the Alps down to the common wintering area in the southern Tuscany.
Handraising of founder individuals is essential part of a European reintroduction program, co-financed by the European Union in the context of the LIFE+ program. When the birds return on their own from the wintering area, they will be assigned to one of the two breeding areas Kuchl in Salzburg and Burghausen in Bavaria.
In these two breeding areas, there are already wild living, migratory bald ibises, which also breed independently. In Kuchl, eggs were already laid at two nests. In Burghausen, there are no eggs, but intense courtship and nest building.
We thank our LIFE+ partners Tierpark Rosegg, Zoo Vienna and Konrad-Lorenz Research Station for their support!
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