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Hamilton Zoo has welcomes kea chick
26 SEPTEMBER 2008
Hamilton Zoo has welcomed its first kea chick in 15 years.
The unnamed chick, whose
sex is not yet known, was hatched on 15 September to
first-time parents, Tane (15) and Kowhai (9). The chick will
take up to 13 weeks to leave the nest so won’t be visible
to the public until around mid-December.
There
hasn’t been breeding of kea at Hamilton Zoo for many years
due to restrictions on the number of the birds able to be
bred in captivity. Hamilton Zoo Director Stephen Standley
said the facility was thrilled when they were given the
green light for their kea pair to breed.
“We are
very excited when the recommendation to breed came through,
and especially when our birds were quick to respond and
produced a healthy chick,” he said.
Kea pairs bond
for life and are thought to be the world’s smartest bird.
They are the world’s only alpine parrot, with less than
5000 currently remaining in the wild in the New Zealand’s
Southern Alps. Reports that keas were attacking sheep and
feeding on their carcasses meant they were once hunted
extensively, however the species became fully protected in
1986.
Earlier this month Hamilton Zoo also welcomed
another new arrival, a baby male zebra named Phoenix. Born
on 2 September to mum Marble and dad Bwana, Phoenix will be
on display these school holidays in the savannah enclosure.
ENDS
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