Endangered Vulture Chick

Rüppell’s griffon vultures, Jekyll and Morticia, successfully hatched a chick on the 26th February 2020.

We’re pleased to say that the chick is doing extremely well, growing healthy and strong, with Morticia and Jekyll doing a great job as parents. It will be a while until the Animal Care Team know the gender to be able to name the chick but we will be sure to update our social media platforms as soon as the little one’s name is announced.

We have had five chicks born here at Colchester Zoo which have all been transferred to different zoos to become part of the European breeding programme. However, it has been a few years since we have successfully bred this species at Colchester Zoo so we very happy to report that the vultures are breeding once again!

Rüppell’s griffon vultures come from central and north-eastern Africa and are currently listed as Endangered on the IUCN Red List due to habitat loss, decline in food sources, hunting for trade with persecution and poisoning also factors.

Vultures play a crucial role in the eco-system with them being one of natures best scavengers, feeding off of dead carcasses reducing the risk of disease spreading to other fauna.

Did you know that Rüppell’s griffon vultures can stand up to 90cm tall with a wingspan of 2.6m and they can live up to 50 years!

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