White-Headed Vulture

Spotted this guy resting in the grass of the Greater Kudu exhibit. Say him from the Antelope Trail, enjoying the quiet.

I tried to get a good photo of Lloyd but he was unfortunately just too far for my camera.

I wish there were other vultures. I feel bad for him being alone.

Nice photo! I can never get a good picture of him because he is always too far away.

I heard that white headed vultures are rare in zoos so it might be difficult to get more to keep him company. Also I'm not a fan of vultures having their flight taken away just so they can live in an exhibit with hoofstock.

He would probably get along with other species that are more common. And so long as they are just clipping his flight feathers to keep him grounded I can live with it since there is no flight pen for a large bird in the savanna. I would agree it would be more interesting to see a flock of vultures in a flight pen where you could appreciate a wider ranger of natural behaviours.

I'd rather see a flock devouring a large animal carcass. I know morbid, but still seems cool to see.

That would be cool too. But I think that would mean the exhibit is a little more private, say behind some bushes with some good signage warning people what they are about to see so people who dont want to see that and kids can be steered away during feeding time. I know as a kid it would have scarred me.

Either way, It would be pretty cool to see.

TZFan said:

That would be cool too. But I think that would mean the exhibit is a little more private, say behind some bushes with some good signage warning people what they are about to see so people who dont want to see that and kids can be steered away during feeding time. I know as a kid it would have scarred me.

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You would have been scarred by natural scavenging behaviour? You wouldn't have learnt and grown from the experience? I think if they put a sign up to let visitors know a carcass feeding is occurring then that is more than enough; zoos should showcase this behaviour in all scavenging creatures where possible. I hope Lloyd (awful name ) is at least given some partial carcasses to feed on.

Honestly it would have been pretty upsetting to me as a kid. I couldn't watch nature documentaries where an animal was killed without burying my head in a pillow at those moments. Overly sensitive? Yes. I have since grown out of it. It also would bother me when animals were hurt and the film crew wouldn't help them. Again I now understand it and be ok with nature taking its course.

Zoos should showcase it but leave the option of viewing it to its guests.