The no longer "little" Eurasian Griffon Vulture chick of the Zoo of Duisburg is nearly five weeks old now. Unbelievable, how time flies! Unfortunately this means it won't be long until my sweetheart will be seperated from his parents to a special enclosure "behind the scenes" and will be raised by hand. Last year the Eurasian Griffon Vulture chick 2011 was given to this enclosure at the age of five weeks and few days, cause his parents did not stay next to the nest all the time to protect their chick. Danger threatens by porcupines and marabous inside the enclosure or wild foxes coming to the zoo at night and could kill the vulture chick. In the pheasantry "behind the scenes" the chick is more protected... but it will be a very hard pain of separation and sad farewell for the proud vulture-parents and me :-(
Reasons enough for me to go to the zoo today although it was raining all the time. One more time admiring the cute chick! And somehow soaking wet vulture are looking very, very funny!!!
Lying under the protecting plumage of vulture-daddy the chick is feeling much more comfortable than sitting in the rain. Nevertheless the chick seemed to be anything but dry. His wonderful white fluff was looking brown and muddy this time.
Here you can clearly and distinctly see the first black roots of feathers! The chicks plumage is growing soon!
One time in 20 rainy minutes the vulture chick said hello to me, when creeping out from under his vulture-daddys plumage. How splendid his beak fledged by now! But when looking at his empty crop I think it's time for a portion of tasty regurgitated meat. Carrion go!
Quiz: Can you see the beak?
Vulture-mommy sitting in the rain.
The two separated vultures were looking very unenthusiastic, too. For the first time they were not sitting on their favourite trunk next to the fence but on another trunk somewhere on the other side of their enclosure.
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