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Endangered peacock-pheasant chicks thrive after keepers’ rescue efforts
Two endangered Malay peacock-pheasant chicks are thriving at Chester Zoo after keepers intervened when their mother failed to incubate her first egg and later left one newborn dangerously cold. The chicks are the only known members of the species to have hatched in a European zoo this year, making their survival a boost for efforts to protect the rare birds.
Keepers placed the first egg with a broody bronze-tailed peacock-pheasant, a closely related species, and used a rubber glove as a miniature hot-water bottle to warm the second chick. They also gave it glucose syrup hourly for 24 hours before returning it to its mother, who accepted and reared it. Around 15 Malay peacock-pheasants are recorded in European zoos, while an estimated 2,500 remain in the wild, where habitat loss and trapping threaten their survival.
In short
- Two rare chicks hatched at Chester Zoo.
- A feather-covered glove helped warm one newborn.
- The species faces habitat loss in the wild.
Explained simply
Malay peacock-pheasants are rare birds native to South-east Asia. Their numbers have fallen as forests are lost and birds are trapped, and zoos help maintain populations outside the wild.
Chester Zoo is one of a small number of European zoos that keep the species. With around 15 birds recorded in European zoos and an estimated 2,500 in the wild, breeding and raising young can contribute to efforts to protect the species.
Read the full article at the source →
Originally published by Daily Mail as “Two of Europe’s rarest chicks are thriving at UK zoo… with the help of a glove covered in feathers”.