Tethering Raptors in Zoos

B

BOPguy

New Member
I ran across this interesting chat site. I was trying to find information on tethering birds in zoos. I was a volunteer at a local facility that until recently kept all their birds in large mews, untethered. Us experienced volunteer handlers and the paid staff had no trouble getting these birds out for educational or other purposes. A few months ago a new curator was brought in and he also brought in some of his own bird collection (he is a licensed falconer). All his personal birds which are kept at the zoo were tethered to posts 24x7. Most are never flown on a daily basis. They just sat there on these posts (in their feces and filth). Many of us long time volunteers have quit in protest to this and other issues which I will not go into. We are looking into this tethered bird issue to see if it is an accepted practice by zoos (especially American zoos) to do this. We just feel it is inhumane. We realize that Falconers commonly do this but hopefully a Falconer who cares about their birds will exercise their birds on a daily basis.

Do you have opinions or can point me to web sites that have opinions on tethering birds to posts 24x7?
 
What is "accepted" at USA zoos is pretty much codified by the AZA.
You might contact the Raptor TAG chairman for his point of view.

I'll PM you his email
 
Most UK 'Falconry Centres' , of which there are many , keep many of their exhibit birds , particularly falcons , tethered during the on-show hours . I would imagine they need to be moved to more secure housing at night . There are often notices stating that the birds are exercised every day , no way of easily proving this though .
 
I have no personal knowledge of this, since I volunteer at probably the only generalized zoo in the country that does not have one single hawk or eagle or falcon or owl (a huge hole in our animal collection). However, I would hate to think that most raptors are kept tethered in their holding cages. I see absolutely no reason for this and it does seem inhumane.

We do have a king vulture that we sometimes use for a flight demo, and I can assure you he has a very large off-exhibit enclosure and is never tethered there.
 
BOPguy said:
Do you have opinions or can point me to web sites that have opinions on tethering birds to posts 24x7?
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Keeping all Birds of Prey in captivity is one of my personal zoo-dislikes. Those kept permanently in Aviaries can never fly(soar/stoop/dive etc) properly, only flap briefly from A to B. Although tethering falconry birds is normal and accepted falconry practise which probably dates back hundreds of years, being pegged out at ground level must be against a b.o.p's natural instincts and sometimes you will see head bobbing or 'baiting'(flapping off the perch) in frustration at being so confined.

As Bele says, many zoos and wildlife parks in the UK which put on falconry displays, exhibit their birds in this way, at least in the daytime. Despite the notices, I often wonder how many of the birds are really exercised everyday, though its difficult to prove either way. And the birds which do take part in the demonstrations may experience one or two short flights per day at best, diving to lures etc. Your description of 24/7 tethering raises further concerns for me that this may happen at places in the UK too.
 
maybe the solution would be tto house fewer species so that they get more quality excersise time when they are flying. i.e. keep just 2 or 3 species which would get longer and better excersise than keeeping a larger range of species. although this would decrease the diversity of birds of prey normal zoo's could hold they would have a far better lifestyle than the current situation.
 
Having read that statement, I would query the part about 'free-lofted' birds. Presumably this refers to birds kept in flights/aviaries. Although I accept the birds fly less when not hunting or patrolling territory, it says 'free-lofted' birds also spend more time perched than in flight- but I still feel that is because their flying movement is severely restricted in flights, not necessarily from choice..
 
Hi Pertinax,

yes, free lofted birds refers to birds kept in aviaries, flights or mews...

I agree, that captive birds (like all captive animals) see in some way their choices and abilities to perform some of their "natural behaviors".

Wild birds of prey do spend a lot of time perched, after they're done eating, or if they don't need to perform any other "function", and the same is seen on captive raptors... Although they're not free in their choices, I believe that a good training, educational presentation, or husbandry practices, should in some way compensate this fact.
I know that I'm probably not the best person to talk about this, since I'm an animal trainer, and tethering is "acceptable" (as long as done the right way, always taking into account the individual animal and specie) there's not a lot of animals in a zoo that can experience the same kind of "freedom" then birds used on educational presentations...

With this said, I always choose free lofting over tethering, and although I know none of them is perfect, I see it like with any other animal kept at a zoo, as a "necessary evil".

There's so much to be said regarding this matter, and I think this is a great discussion.

Regards

Miguel
 
This is a tricky one. If the birds' mews (their housing) are directly accessible for public viewing, free-lofting is the better choice. If the bird is out on a temporary perch in an unfamiliar area, tethering is a must, coupled with a clearly visible and tangible barrier which creates a safe distance between the public and the birds.

I would add the 'head-bobbing' behavior referred to earlier does not necessarily indicate frustration. I've seen it in numerous birds when they're curious about something. Owls do it as well, though on a much more visible scale (their whole body gets going, if they're really curious about what they're watching). In their case, they're focusing both vision and hearing on the object of interest (remember, that facial disc of theirs acts like a parabolic reflector where sound is concerned).

BOPGuy -- Can you put a name to this facility, in private message if nothing else? It sounds like your new curator may not be all s/he's cracked up to be (and Lord knows I've seen that issue before -- GV Zoo, anyone?)

Having taken the raptor care/management course at UMN's Raptor Center, I can say with confidence that there are some differences between handling birds which are purely for education, and those which are used in falconry. However, the differences are not that significant.

Miguel is very much correct in saying raptors in general spend a great deal of time at rest, simply observing the world. Falcons, for example, are built for bursts of activity; one, maybe two, very strenuous flights per day to catch their prey, followed by hours of rest. Hawks in the wild will often spend hours simply soaring on thermals, searching for prey from on high, an activity which takes minimal energy. Red-tails in particular will spend hours upon hours perched near a freeway or major road, letting vibration from passing vehicles serve the purpose of flushing out the small rodents they favor.

The point I'm making is a tethered bird on a temporary (or even a permanent, in the case of the mews) perch is not necessarily a Bad Thing, nor is a bird seen just sitting in one spot for a long time. There are a ton of variables involved, and I would have to see the particular situation (and the bird or birds involved) before I could make a real judgment call.

Happy travels.
 
Thanks for your input kc7gr!! BOPguy, it would be interesting if you can let us know (even by PM) where you volunteer?
 
Thanks for everyone's input and the discussion. I have replied by PM to a couple people letting them know the facility I was volunteering at.

I am still just in a fog over this entire series of events. There were three of us long time volunteers who left the program over the tethering issue. We just strongly feel that regardless of the attitude that in the wild raptors just sit around all day doing nothing to conserve energy that they still have the free will to move. We also strongly believe that raptors by nature do not want to sit 1 foot off the ground. There were some other issues but the treatment of the birds was what really precipitated our departure. The organization's management and PR have managed to turn this into our problem, not theirs. Maybe it is time to call PETA!!!
 
BOPguy said:
Maybe it is time to call PETA!!!
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This may be harsh, but calling PETA on your facility is pure vandalism.
The issue is debatable and the ethics unclear, and calling out those Storm Troopers is not the answer. Once you do there is no telling what course PETA will chose to take: and the likely outcome is a concerted effort to shut down the facility entirely. Is that your goal?
I realize we all hate to lose an argument, but maybe it is time to simply walk away.
 
Pertinax said:
Keeping all Birds of Prey in captivity is one of my personal zoo-dislikes. Those kept permanently in Aviaries can never fly(soar/stoop/dive etc) properly, only flap briefly from A to B. Although tethering falconry birds is normal and accepted falconry practise which probably dates back hundreds of years, being pegged out at ground level must be against a b.o.p's natural instincts and sometimes you will see head bobbing or 'baiting'(flapping off the perch) in frustration at being so confined.

As Bele says, many zoos and wildlife parks in the UK which put on falconry displays, exhibit their birds in this way, at least in the daytime. Despite the notices, I often wonder how many of the birds are really exercised everyday, though its difficult to prove either way. And the birds which do take part in the demonstrations may experience one or two short flights per day at best, diving to lures etc. Your description of 24/7 tethering raises further concerns for me that this may happen at places in the UK too.
Click to expand...

What about doughnut shaped aviaries?
 
docend24 said:
What about doughnut shaped aviaries?
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Not sure what exact shape you mean here but obviously a lot higher/more spacious than the usual. However, many bird of prey species (vultures, hawks, eagles etc) soar at great height in thermals of warm air- its not possible for them in any aviary. A 'doughnut' type aviary might give the smaller species like Sparrowhawk or Kestrel room to manoevre in flight, but not the bigger ones.
 
BOPguy said:
We just strongly feel that regardless of the attitude that in the wild raptors just sit around all day doing nothing to conserve energy that they still have the free will to move. We also strongly believe that raptors by nature do not want to sit 1 foot off the ground.
Click to expand...

Too many people just believe what they are told by 'experts' and accept it must be right 'because they know best'. I feel that because birds of prey sit and do nothing for long periods in the wild is definately not the same as being unable to take flight AT ALL 24/7 but it sounds like a good enough explanation at first.

And I still maintian being perched at almost ground level is entirely unnatural for these birds too. This is an old established practise of falconry, which dates back to medieval days or even earlier. But many other such practises with animals which were acceptable then such as bear baiting, are now considered cruel in the modern world and have been discontinued. I do think the falconry style of keeping birds of prey in captivity does need some revision now.
 
I am surprised that the Guardian article has not generated more comment. Tethering raptors is an effective way of managing trained birds, and provided the birds are well trained it does not cause them any obvious stress, much like tethering any tame well trained animal. A problem arises when tethering inappropriate birds, such as highly strung individuals. Not all birds respond well to the type of management that some bird of prey centres offer, and they need to be judicious about which birds are put on display. Most now recognise that tethering owls is not acceptable for long periods and species such as Barn Owls are often unhappy when tethered since they need a dark quiet corner in which to roost during the day.

There is obvious best practice that should be adopted when tethering birds. In the video the bays in which the birds were perched seemed too small and the leashes a bit short. Keeping birds permanently tethered to perches is not acceptable.
 
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I work with BOP. Personally had never worked with tethered birds until recently however they are flown and get more exercise than free lofted birds I’ve worked with in the past. There’s a massive animal rights thing going on at the minute to stop tethering of birds which includes a video of a distressed tethered owl .. no decent falconer will tether an owl as it doesn’t work for them. There’s a falconry centre down south who lets many birds out each day for a few hours and calls them back later on. Although they’re free to fly a large percentage of their time will be spent perching ☺️
 
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