Cottbus has succeeded as first zoo in Europe to succesfully breed the Saddle-billed stork !
I'm really surprised it took this long. American zoos started breeding them 20 years ago.
Are you sure of this? I think i´ve heard they were bred before... they aren´t rare.
I aways thought Dallas was the first U.S. zoo to breed this species.
Successful reproduction of this species world wide did not occur until 1994 when the
Dallas Zoo hatched its first chick, a male. The Dallas Zoo continued to be the only zoo to
reproduce this species until 1999 when the Audubon Species Survival Center hatched its first
chick. The Toledo Zoo hatched its first chicks in 2000. The San Diego Wild Animal Park
hatched its first chicks in November of 2001 and was the first to fledge a clutch of three chicks
in 2002. The Kansas City Zoo achieved its first breeding of this species early in 2003. Dallas,
Audubon SSC, Toledo and San Diego Wild Animal Park continue to reproduce yearly.
It is notable that chicks have only been produced by pairs with non-pinioned, fullyflighted
males.
No second generation breeding of this species has occurred.