Abstract
(Dallas, TX, Jan. 11, 199~)-At 41 days of age, Korongo made its first media appearance at the Dallas Zoo today as proud, Saddlebilled Stork parents, Adam and Eve, looked on."Korongo" meaning "stork" in Swahili, was hatched on December 1,1995 and weighed 95 grams (or 3.35 ounces). Now, at approximately 3000 grams (or 6.6 pounds), the chick is ready to take its place in history, according to Chuck Siegel, curator of birds.
"The Saddle-billed Stork has not been bred in captivity anywhere else in the world," beamed Siegel. "This accomplishment by the Dallas Zoo is the first step in establishing a world-wide, selfsustaining captive population of Saddle-billed Storks. While these storks are not an endangered species, they do live in threatened natural habitats. The knowledge we've gained through our breeding success with this species may be applied to other storks which are on the endangered list," Siegel added.
In addition to being incubated by its parents, Korongo also spent its first eight days in the nest with them. Cold weather and the fear of frostbite prompted Dallas Zoo bird keepers to remove the chick from the nest and begin hand rearing procedures.
Five times a day, keepers dressed in puppet suits to resemble "mom and dad," fed the chick a diet of mice, smelt, water, calcium supplements and vitamins. They were careful to monitor growth rate and bone development and recorded body weight gains of up to 10 to 12 percent every 24 hours.
Handfeeding continues to control the intake of food, water and supplements, but the schedule has been revised to twice a day. Zoo officials want to make sure that Korongo doesn't grow too fast so that its delicate bones will be able to support it. The chick, whose sex has not yet been determined, has just begun to stand up.
"Korongo will grow to be at least five feet tall and weigh about 14 pounds," added Siegel. "If it is a girl, it will have golden yellow eyes. If it's a boy, his eyes will be black. • Captive Bred Condors Coming to Castle Crags, CA
In mid-February, four captive bred young California Condors are to be released at Castle Crags in eastern San Luis Obispo County, California. These will be the first individuals of the species to be parent-reared in captivity then released into the wild. This release into the Machesna Wilderness Area of Los Padres National Forest will bring the condor's free-flying population up to 17 birds-a remarkable achievement for a species that was once completely eliminated in the wild when, in the early 1980s, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service captured the last 27 survivors and sent them to breeding facilities.
During the past few years, at least four condors that were released into the wild were killed by power lines and one died from drinking antifreeze. To protect against similar inability to cope with the wild life, this new crop of four birds was parent reared, then put into halfway houses (actually caves) to receive survival training. They have been conditioned to fear man and man made things including power poles. A mock pole was used to give the birds mild shocks when they landed on it.
About a year ago 13 of these 25 pound birds were released into Lion Canyon in the remote part of Santa Barbara County. These releases are a tribute to the efforts of dedicated aviculturists who have gone to great lengths to raise and prepare the young condors for life in the wilderness. Today there are more than 100 hundred condors, most of them in various stages of conditioning for their eventual return to their old habitats.
As many as nine condors are scheduled to be released in the Grand Canyon in northern Arizona. The plans, however, are on hold until at least April because local residents have objected. They don't want the condors to interfere with grazing, hunting, logging and mining by bringing the Endangered Species Act into play. •