Rare birds

Pretty vultures join ugly storks at Alligator Farm

Published Saturday, September 02, 2006

Compared to the vultures in North America, these birds look like runway models.

They are Cape Griffon Vultures of South Africa, a threatened, dwindling species that has become the latest addition to the St. Augustine Alligator Farm Zoological Park.

"I think they're beautiful," said Amanda Whitaker, bird and mammal curator at the Alligator Farm.

Whitaker recently traveled to Africa to bring the five vultures to America. The birds flew 17 hours in crates on South African Air to New York where they spent the next 30 days under federal quarantine.

Vultures Kubu, Sefara, Kwa, Magare and Bakubung came from DeWildt Cheetah Center. There, they have a rehabilitation program for the Cape Griffon Vultures that saved the lives of these five.

Four recovered from flying into power lines and one was poisoned, Whitaker said. All have limited flight capacity and couldn't be released back to the wild.

For a variety of reasons, the population has been decreasing since the beginning of the century.

Farmers poison carcasses to keep hyenas and other predators away from their livestock. As a result, vultures become victims of the poison. Also, game populations are decreasing, the birds face metabolic bone disease when they don't get enough calcium as chicks and people hunt them.

"The locals believe they have clairvoyant powers ... so they kill them and eat their eyes, thinking it will help them with gambling," Whitaker said.

The current population is estimated to be between 8,000 and 10,000, according to vulture Web sites. The Alligator Farm is hoping to breed the vultures and then release them back into their native home because of the desperate need.

Whitaker spent two weeks in Africa, checking out the vultures, looking into Nile crocodiles for a future exhibit and exploring the wilderness.

"The whole time I was there I didn't see a single vulture in the wild," she said.

But she did see lions, rhinoceros and hippopotamus.

In the wild, the vultures don't eat anything smaller than an antelope, Whitaker said. At the park, their diet often consists of whole rodents and crushed cow leg bones for calcium.

They hang out in an exhibit with other birds of Africa including two marabou storks, Newman and Oldman. And unlike the vultures, these two characters may be some of the ugliest birds.

They stand about 3-feet tall. Their black and red heads appear to be balding with a few wisps of hair sticking out. A foot-long skin-covered pouch hangs from their throat, and their legs are long and skinny.

While they may not be the cutest birds, they certainly grab attention. Marabou storks are also incredibly smart, Whitaker said.

Newman has taken a particular liking to Whitaker.

"He thinks I'm his girlfriend," she said with a laugh.

When Whitaker goes into the exhibit, Newman follows her around with sticks waiting to build a nest.

And while Newman may be the most obvious about his affections, he is not the only bird at the Alligator Farm that is bonded to Whitaker. As she passes exhibits, birds greet and call to her.

The vultures have not yet acquired that kind of trust, but they are becoming less skittish, she said.

"They're pretty fearful of us," she said, adding that a little fear is good in this case because they are so strong.

"They've got some serious power with that beak," Whitaker said. "They'll take out a chunk of flesh."

John Brueggen, director of the Alligator Farm, said he thinks the vultures are the perfect addition to the park.

When people hear the word vulture, beautiful is not often the word that comes to mind, he said. But these birds are just that.

The vultures "typify the whole Alligator Farm experience ... that it's much better than people thought," Brueggen said. "They're just not what you'd expect."

Cape Griffon Vultures

In the wild, these birds don't eat anything smaller than an antelope.

They are the largest of the African vultures, weighing about 15 pounds and having a wingspan of 8 feet.

The population is threatened. Many factors have played a role in their diminishing numbers including the reduction of game herd, people killing them to eat the eyes because they believe they have clairvoyant powers and farmers poisoning carcasses to keep hyenas and other animals from their livestock.

Their feces have such a high pH level that it kills bacteria in the area and help stops disease.

Their eyes change from dark to a corn husk color when they reach sexual maturity at age 5 or 6.

Source: Amanda Whitaker, bird and mammal curator at St. Augustine Alligator Farm Zoological Park.

Marabou Storks

These birds have no voice box and are therefore mute. They communicate by clattering their bills loudly.

They are the largest of the storks with a wingspan of 8 feet.

The pouch on their throat is not used for food storage. It is more likely used in courtship.

They are attracted to grass fires. They march in front of the fire grabbing at fleeing animals.

They eat more than 700 grams of food a day.

Sources: San Francisco Zoo, SeaWorld