large vulture diet and cost

Bill Munns

Bill Munns

Member
Any chance someone here knows exactly what captive large vultures are fed in zoos (just raw meat, a ZooPreem special diet, or whole carcusses of small animals or birds (like a whole chicken or whole rabbit)?

Also I'm curious about a cost per day for feeding a large vulture (Cenereous or Griffon, for example).

Any info would be appreciated.

Bill
 
A large vulture and a should be fed a varied diet, from day old chick, to rat, rabbit, carcasses, etc.

A griffon I worked with would normally eat close to 1 kg of meat a day (if not more). Prices in Europe are different from the US, so I can't really compare...
 
During my time as keeper at Walsrode we fed the vultures ( species like Griffon, Andean condor ect. ) one-day old chickens, dead rats ( and when avaible Guinea pigs ) and large pieces of hearts od cows. A mineral-vitamine powder was put over the food. Food intake differs from day to day and from seisun to seisun but a kilo pro bird pro day as Miguel said can be taken as a rule.
 
When feeding large vultures one needs to replicate the feeding patters that occur in nature. I have experience with Andean Condors and they are fed twice a week on whole animal diets, that is they get offered all parts of the dead animal. Sheep, lambs, rabbits, rats and chickens. When offered a large animal to eat they choose the heart, lungs, kidneys, eyes, brain and liver first and then eat the main muscle masses. They reduce the carcass to skin and bones and will disarticulate the skeleton and eat the epiphyses on the bones and eventually eat the skin once it has rotted and the hair/wool has fallen off. They will eat some of the intestines but generally leave the stomach contents. Condors eat about 3-4 kilos a week. Day old chicks and birds are less preferred than mammals which are their usual food.
 
I forgot to tell that also at Walsrode the vultures where not fed every day, once a week they didn't get any food at all. In nature they also can't find food every day. I know also the large carnivores in many zoos have at least one day a week without food.
 
Hi Bill,

I thought the name was familiar, model maker for films, taxidermist, aviculturist and cryptozoologist and a lover of large birds of prey and the more unusual animals. We have similar interests.
 
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