Abstract
Loro Parque Fundacion
Pesquet's Parrots hatch
As the parrot breeding high season is coming to its end, we have registered a higher number of ringed chicks than at this time last year.
We are especially happy to announce the repeated hatch of two young Pesquet's Parrots (Psittrichas fulgidus). They are now growing together with their two siblings in the Baby-Station of Loro Parque. Thus, we are very proud to have produced four youngsters of this zoological rarity in this year, given that this particular parrot species is held in very few zoos worldwide and is very rarely bred.
Some days ago, the first Thick-billed Parrot (Rhynchopsitta pachyrhyncha) of the season hatched, after the pair had unfortunately broken the first egg by throwing it onto the floor. The second egg was taken out of the nest immediately after it had been laid and artificially incubated, And now this youngster is also growing in the Baby-Station. The female laid a third egg which we left her to incubate, in order to allow her to practice and to prove her natural rearing methods and abilities.
We have registered a very interesting entry from the USA. In the framework of the international breeding programme, we received from "Busch Gardens" in Tampa, Florida two adult Lear's Macaws (Anodorhynchus leari). At the beginning of the 1980s, Busch Gardens was successful in breeding this species for the first time ever and two young females were raised, and have remained living in Tampa. However, as a partner for each of them has never been found, it was decided to hand them over to Loro Parque Fundacion (and at the same time give the ownership to the Government of Brazil), which has been very successful in the breeding programme and will do its best with them within this program. The LPF President himself, Mr. Wolfgang Kiessling, brought them on his recent journey from America to Tenerife, and both macaws are at present in quarantine. After that it is foreseen to pair them with young males bred by the Loro Parque Fundacion, With these two new specimens the number of Lear's Macaws held in the Loro Parque Fundacion goes up to 17.
At the moment, Loro Parque is excitedly looking forward to its next big event: at the end of September the new attraction "Katandra Treetops" will be opened after two years of hard work. "Katandra Treetops" is a visitor-friendly accessible jungle in which they can experience at first hand free-flying parrots and other birds from Australia and Asia. A suspension bridge at the same height as the treetops will offer wonderful views to the visitors into the habitat of these spectacular birds. More about this in the next edition.