Aja Pendergrast, Auckland Zoo
Our skilled keepers have been busy hand-rearing three hungry chicks!
These tīeke (saddleback) are the first chicks hatched this year from a pair of genetically important founder birds. Since this pair didn’t breed successfully last year, our keepers have elected to hand-rear this first clutch to ensure we could add their young, and the new genes, to the zoo population.
Bird keeper Catherine is carefully tweezer-feeding these eight-day old chicks
In this #keepercam – Catherine is carefully tweezer-feeding these eight-day old chicks a diet of minced meat, papaya, and a probiotic supplement to keep them healthy.
It’s a lot of work, as when tīeke are this young they need to be fed every two-hours from 7am until 9pm! You’ll be pleased to know, these chicks are growing up nice and strong and have recently left their makeshift nest for the first time.
We’re hoping to build up a strong flock of these endangered birds, so you can enjoy watching them in our huge Te Wao Nui Forest aviary, and learn all about the conservation success story which brought them back from the brink of extinction.
