#lappet-faced vulture

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Lappet-faced vultures, the largest vultures in Africa, have a wingspan of up to nine feet.

Masai Mara, Kenya, July 2023.

[dwmmphotography]

On this Scavenger Sunday we're gonna explore a few species in recognition of yesterday being International Vulture Awareness Day (the first Saturday in September, always).

The California condor is the largest of the North American vultures. After nearly going extinct in the 1980s, their population is rebounding thanks to an extensive captive breeding and release program.

While the wild population of California condors is not self-sustaining yet, there are condors in the wild mating and rearing young. Like this fledgling seen at Navajo Bridge in Arizona. The dark head lightens as the bird ages. Since the population still requires close monitoring, wing-tags will be given when the bird is caught for a medical exam.

A more familiar sight in both North & South America is the condor's smaller cousin, the turkey vulture. The widest ranging of the New World Vultures, this relatively small species is known for using its well-developed sense of smell to locate food that can't be easily seen.

Another relatively small New World Vulture is the American black vulture. Keeping the gray/black skin of all young NWV into adulthood, the white primaries giving their wings an old timey cartoon glove look distinguishes them from the young of their cousins.

On the other end of the vulture spectrum is the Eurasian black vulture (cinereous vulture). One of the largest Old World Vulture species, these fashionably ruffed individuals are kings of the carcass across their range.

African close cousin to the cinereous vulture is the lappet-faced vulture. Their hefty bill allows them to open carcasses that defeat other species. Their pants are quite fluffy.

Sharing the skies of southern Africa with the lappet-faced vulture is the Cape griffon vulture. Similarly sized to the lappet-faced vulture, these gregarious birds look quite fancy with a bit of rat gut hanging from their mouth.

[scribblesnsketches05]

[skimblyshanks]

Alright folks, important update re. Dallas Zoo.

The Emperor Tamarins are home, and are reacclimating well!

But with this also came confirmation that the Tamarins that were stolen were the Tamarins from the Lacerte Family Children's Zoo, not the Tamarin Treetops as i previously thought.

So that means enclosures in 3/5 of the park have been compromised.

Zoo North, which houses the Clouded Leopards and Langurs.

Wilds of Africa, which is across the grounds from Zoo North and houses the Lappet-Faced Vultures

Lacerte Family Children's Zoo, which houses this pair of tamarins.

The Children's Zoo is linked to Zoo North through a walkway, similar to the way Giants of The Savanna connects to Wilds of Africa.

While there is still a geographic proximity for 3/4 of these incidents, it's less clear cut than initially thought

Dallas Zoo's Update on the Tamarins

[saritawolff]

As reports of other incidents are beginning to come in, I thought I’d make a thread on all the crazy break-ins going on in the zoo world since the beginning of 2023.

On January 13th, Dallas Zoo closed due to a loose clouded leopard. Within hours she was discovered close to her home and safely returned to her enclosure with her sister, who had not left. Her wire mesh fence was discovered to have been intentionally cut open.

The next day, January 14th, it was announced that another cut had been discovered in the Dallas Zoo’s spectacled langur exhibit. However, the monkeys did not leave their enclosure and all were reportedly accounted for and uninjured.

On January 22nd, a highly endangered lappet-faced vulture at the Dallas Zoo was found dead in his enclosure with a “suspicious wound.” The wound appeared to be unnatural and is suspected of being a stab wound.

On January 29th keepers at Zoosiana discovered that 12 of their squirrel monkeys were stolen in the night. The remaining monkeys were uninjured but stressed.

On January 30th, attention was back on the Dallas Zoo as it reported that two of its emperor tamarins were missing after their enclosure had been cut into. As Dallas was in the middle of a freeze, it was doubtful the monkeys would have left their heated enclosure willingly. They were believed to have been taken.

On January 31st, Dallas police released photos and a video of a person of interest who may be connected to the theft of the tamarins.

Later that day, the tamarins were found in an abandoned home following a tip from the owners of the neighboring church. The monkeys were in a closet filled with bird feces and moldy clothes. Police also found cats, cat feces, pigeons, and a water jug containing dead fish in the home.

The tamarins were reportedly very happy to return to their warm home, but had lost weight. The zoo currently has them in quarantine to get their weight back up and monitor them for any illnesses they could have caught from the other animals in the abandoned house.

On February 2nd, 24-year-old Davion Dwight Irvin was arrested after an employee of the Dallas World Aquarium recognized him from the “person of interest” photos. He was reportedly scoping out mesh enclosures at the aquarium and approached the employee to ask questions about the animals’ care.

Apparently there had been unreported thefts in early January of feeder fish and fish supplies as well as training supplies taken from the behind the scenes otter area at the Dallas Zoo.

Meanwhile, also on February 2nd, someone cut open the stainless steel mesh of the Central Park Zoo’s Eurasian eagle owl exhibit. The owl, Flaco, has been under zoo surveillance since he was located on the 3rd and the hope is to lure him back with food once he gets hungry. As of today, February 8th, he has not eaten or drank, as he does not know how to in the wild.

Back to Texas, and despite zoos in the area doubling security, on February 6th keepers found a 4-inch cut in the Houston Zoo’s brown pelican enclosure. The birds are reportedly all accounted for and unharmed.

On February 7th, it was reported that Davion had not only confessed to stealing the Dallas Zoo’s monkeys, but also stated that, if released, he would go right back to stealing animals.

Davion confessed that he had attempted to take Nova, the clouded leopard, but he was only able to pet her before she climbed out of reach. He was also linked to cutting the langurs’ enclosure, but not charged since the langurs did not escape.

It was also revealed that Davion had been a person of interest after staff recognized the zoo regular as someone who often asked a lot of abnormal questions (such as how to shift the tamarins in and out of their various spaces) and had been previously been caught sneaking into staff only areas.

So far the vulture, Pin’s, death is still under investigation. Pin’s enclosure was on the other side of the zoo from the area Davion had been targeting.

As for Zoosiana’s squirrel monkeys, an arrest has been made in connection to the theft. 61-year-old Joseph Randell has been taken in for questioning. The 12 monkeys remain missing.

As it stands, we still have one dead vulture who’s killer may still be at large, 12 missing squirrel monkeys, and an owl in danger of starvation or injury in New York City.

I will reblog with updates to ongoing cases as they become available, or if more zoo sabotage happens (God forbid). Please feel free to correct me if I’ve gotten any dates or information wrong and I will edit or update this post.

(Also, I am on mobile and won’t be able to add a readmore until I can access a computer, sorry) Update: I was finally able to add a readmore and also turned all news links into hyperlinks.

[ashen-vulture]

Magnificent creatures

[corvidaemnit]

vulture fancam yaaay:3

you can also find it on my tiktok here if you want!

[skrunksthatwunk]

:(

[todaysbird]

the lappet-faced vulture is a large vulture species found in africa & the arabian peninsula. like other vultures, they primarily feed on carcasses; however, they have been known to take live prey. they are considered the most aggressive of the african vultures, and other vulture species often defer to them at feedings. they are not social birds, and are almost always solitary. this species is endangered; their main threats are habitat destruction and ingestion of poison (usually, from eating baited food set out for other ‘pest’ species such as jackals).

[birds-of-prey-daily]

Lappet-faced Vulture

[leopardsealz]

my mzingo design! he is a lappet-faced vulture

[dwmmphotography]

On this Scavenger Sunday, we visit with a pair of lappet-faced vultures at the ABQ BioPark Zoo who have a stump.

[nkp1981]

The Lappet-faced Vulture

Photo: Joschka Voss

[internetdruid]

🥚i see u filling my dash with eggs and beasts and idk what its for but im taking this opportunityt o ask what your favourite species of vulture is if you have one. mine is the bearded vulture

I love all the vultures, both old and new world, so it's a really tough choice, but if I had to choose one

It'd probably be the Himalayan griffon vulture (Gyps himalayensis)

[supremebirdbracket]

A gentle-eyed icon vs a large lad with fluffy pants!

Icon of the Americas, who can resist those soulful brown eyes? Turkey vultures are widespread throughout North and South America, preferring open and semi-open areas such as deserts and shrublands. They have a wingspan of 1.6–1.83 m (63–72 in) and weigh 0.8 to 2.41 kg (1.8 to 5.3 lb). Their flight feathers appear silvery in flight. They are very gregarious and roost in large groups, though generally forage independently. Turkey vultures mostly eat fresh carrion, but sometimes also eat insects and plant matter. They have an excellent sense of smell and forage by searching for the scent of ethyl mercaptan, a gas produced by decaying animal matter. Turkey vultures are known to be inquisitive and intelligent.

Lappet-faced vultures live in the dry open plains of Africa and the Arabian Peninsula. They are incredibly large, with a wingspan of 2.5–2.9 m (8.2–9.5 ft) and weighing 4.4-13.6 kg (9.7-30 lb), with females being larger. Their head color can be red, pink, or gray and pink depending on local population. They are very solitary and, unlike many other vultures, do not nest in colonies. They are the most powerful and aggressive African vulture and dominate at carcasses, and are often the first vultures able to rip open the tough hide of animals such as elephants. They can carry up to 1.5 kg (3.3 lb) of meat in their crops!

[lightningwaters]