Zoo's Vulture Chick Abandoned; Getting Love From Animal Staff

The Lincoln Park Zoo's ideal is that every new arrival be fully healthy and raised by attentive, experienced parents. 

While that’s the case for many births and hatches—the new baby Francois’ langur is one example—others require expert intervention from animal care staff.

That’s the case for a cinereous vulture chick that hatched June 7 at Regenstein Birds of Prey Exhibit. While the zoo's vulture breeding pair has reared two chicks in the past, they abandoned this year’s nest before their egg hatched, for reasons unknown, Zoo President Kevin Bell said Thursday, in his newsletter.

"Our animal care staff stepped in to incubate the egg and later hand rear the new arrival," he said, adding that the abandoned nest wasn't the only hiccup. "During the vulture chick’s routine neonatal exam our veterinarians discovered a heart murmur."

That means there’s an irregular noise associated with the function of the chick’s heart. 

"While some murmurs can be innocent and cause no problems, others can be fatal with no warning," Bell said. "To better understand the chick’s status, our veterinarians are consulting with a veterinary cardiologist to examine the chick when it gets a little bigger."

The bird is so far growing and meeting all of its developmental milestones. As a result, animal care experts have begun the careful process of reintroducing the chick to its parents.

"Despite the fact they abandoned the nest, the adult vultures have been displaying a range of appropriate maternal and paternal behaviors, and parent rearing provides a nurturing and learning experience that even the best hand rearing can’t replicate," Bell said. "We’re being very careful with the reintroduction."

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The chick currently spends a few hours in its exhibit each day under the full-time watch of a zookeeper. At night, it returns to an off-exhibit holding area. The goal is to slowly acclimate the little vulture and its parents until they’re once again living together full time.

"It’s been a delicate process, but this vulture’s case highlights the planning that goes into animal care throughout the zoo," Bell said. "With nearly 900 animals under their watch, our experts manage a range of conditions and challenges, including heart issues."

The vulture chick isn’t the only animal with a cardiac concern. For example, great apes are susceptible to heart problems as they age, just as humans are. 

Diet and exercise are all part of the healthy-heart regimen for the zoo’s gorillas and chimpanzees, and when problems occur, medications are prescribed, just as for us.

Additionally, the zoo's veterinarians have initiated some state-of-the-art monitoring, using remote EKG devices in our chimpanzees—including male Keo, the oldest male in an accredited zoo—to monitor for warning signs and consider options for earlier intervention.

"No outcome is certain," Bell says. "But regular monitoring and expert care are part of the zoo package for every animal, from the youngest chick to our most senior citizen."