Griffon Vulture

The nature conservation project for the Griffon Vulture is intended to strengthen  the Israeli vulture population, which suffers greatly from poisonings, electrocutions, and habitat reduction in the country. While in the past hikers used to lift their heads and see vultures in the skies, today vultures are dwindling. The main populations in the country are concentrated in the Golan Heights (Gamla), in the Carmel, and in several spots in the Negev and the Judean Desert.

At the zoo live several pairs of vultures that have been reproducing on a regular basis for nearly 30 years. Every year, the caretakers in the bird department follow the pairs and the progress of the nesting, until the laying of the egg on which both parents incubate. Then, the caretakers go up to the nest and take the egg – not in order to harm, God forbid, but to help – this way the vultures will usually lay another egg, a second egg, in a phenomenon called "reserve laying".

The first egg will be transferred to the national raptor incubator located at the zoo, in which one can closely monitor and ensure that the egg has high chances of hatching. The second egg is also transferred to the incubator, and with the parents we place a dummy egg made of a material that warms up to ensure they continue incubating. Eggs come to the zoo from zoos all over the country and from the Carmel and Yotvata Wildlife Reserves, and even from nature, if a problem is identified in an incubating pair of vultures.

After the chicks hatch, they are returned to the biological parents, to "foster parents" (other pairs of vultures), or are cared for by the caretakers in a procedure that has been greatly refined over the years, which ensures that the chicks have no direct contact with the caretakers in order to prevent closeness to humans and imprinting. To date, hundreds of vultures hatched at the zoo have been released into the wild, and some were even chicks raised by our vultures on display. In addition to the breeding and incubation program at the national incubation center for birds of prey, the zoo has in the past assisted in bringing vultures from Spain and Cyprus and other countries in order to enrich the genetic diversity of the vultures in Israel and ensure the survival of the population in the future.

‍

Photo: Shai Ben Ami