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migdog

Ghosts of the Himalayas Exhibit - Vulture Amphitheatre

The new vulture exhibit at Bioparc Doue La Fontaine. This forms part of the Ghosts of the Himalayas exhibit, complete with 20+ griffon vultures!

Ghosts of the Himalayas Exhibit - Vulture Amphitheatre
migdog, 27 Sep 2017
    • Gibbon05
      I have never worked this out, how do they keep the vultures in as their enclosure is not netted?
    • Zooplantman
      This may be the single most interesting zoo show stage I've ever seen! (Well, a photo, anyway)
    • Chlidonias
      none of the vultures appear to be able to fly - they can glide and flap downwards from the higher areas but they can't fly upwards, so can be contained within the fence around the perimeter. I've watched a few videos of them on Youtube, and it can be clearly seen on every single bird spreading its wings that they are either fully wing-clipped or have notches taken out to unbalance them enough to prevent proper flight.

      The following video is a good example because it shows a lot of the vultures with their wings open (skip through to around the 7 minute mark when the birds all start coming down to feed). You'll notice that even though some birds are coming in by air, it is just a downwards flapping or gliding and all the birds have lots of feathers missing from one wing.

    • lintworm
      I thought that I read somewhere that these birds are all rescue birds that can't be released anymore, but as it is France I would not be surpised if that is only true for some of them...
    • Chlidonias
      for wing-clipped birds this exhibit is far preferable to a savannah-style exhibit, because they can still glide downwards (whereas on a savannah exhibit they are on flat land so can do nothing except hop about). They can get to quite high points around the outside, allowing a long glide, which I like. The design to allow them to do this is great.

      If they are rescue birds which are unreleasable due to not being able to fly properly then that's all good - it's a really innovative way to house them which isn't the usual small aviaries. However, if they are simply wing-clipped to prevent them escaping (and the video shows many which are very obviously wing-clipped) that's pretty rubbish. Having this same arena covered over with mesh or wires would allow fully-winged birds a lot of freedom to fly.

      I suspect there is a mix of rescue birds and wing-clipped birds, in which case I would argue a fully-enclosed arena would be better for the birds because then the birds which can fly could be left full-winged, regardless or whether other individuals cannot fly through injuries.
    • FunkyGibbon
      I have to ask: what is going on with this 'photo'? Is it a mix of real and CG or totally simulated? And why has no-one pointed this out before?
    • migdog
      What do you mean? The photo is totally real....
    • FunkyGibbon
      @migdog Ok, I've got it. Those antelopes are metal, not computer graphics.......
    • ThylacineAlive
      @FunkyGibbon I was having the same trouble looking at this photo.

      ~Thylo
    • lintworm
      Apparently the birds are all rescue birds from Spain / the Pyrenees. Youngsters bred here are sent to the Balkans for re-introduction there.
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  • Category:
    Bioparc Zoo de Doué la Fontaine
    Uploaded By:
    migdog
    Date:
    27 Sep 2017
    View Count:
    4,258
    Comment Count:
    11

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