At the Bronx Zoo, a two-month-old king vulture chick is being hand-raised with the aid of a puppet parent. This innovative approach helps ensure the chick recognizes itself as a vulture rather than a human, as the species can have neglectful parents. The first king vulture chick at the zoo since the 1990s, it has valuable genetics due to its 55-year-old father. King vultures, although not endangered, face threats such as habitat loss and poaching in the wild.
The Bronx Zoo employs a puppet parent to nurture a vulture chick, ensuring its social and species identity without human imprinting.
To prevent the baby vulture from imprinting on humans, the Bronx Zoo has created a puppet parent that mimics the look of a king vulture.
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