Wattled crane has hatched ( FB ) 
Weltvogelpark Walsrode news from Walsrode 2014
- Thread starter vogelcommando
- Start date
Orange-breasted fig-parrot bred ( FB ).
Yes, Hannover or Hamburg. From the main train station in Hannover (Hannover Hauptbahnof) is about an hour away by train to Walsrode. From the train station in Walsrode (from Monday to Friday) departs regularly bus to the park (you can also go on foot - about 2-3 km). The park is located at some distance from Walsrode (among fields and forests).
From Hannover, there is a train departing every hour, which takes just under an hour to get in Walsrode. There is a good connection to the bus to the bird park. Allthough when I was there the last bus from Walsrode to the station left around 3 pm, so we ended up walking back. You can combine it with a visit to Zoo Hannover the other day, which is certainly an interesting zoo and quite controversial 
threeple61
Well-Known Member
Chestnut-eared araçari on show now
King bird of paradise had a chick last year
Not sure what else is new, but I thought both of this was very excited to post!
King bird of paradise had a chick last year
Not sure what else is new, but I thought both of this was very excited to post!
Keas hatched at Walsrode ( FB ) Video from YouTube :
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zooboy28
Well-Known Member
Four chicks! Hope they survive. Any idea how large the population is or how regular breeding is? There are 50 holders listed on zootierliste (plus I imagine there are a few in private hands?), so presumably there is quite a large population.
wow, 50 holders! I knew kea were well-established overseas but I'd never bothered looking at zoo numbers, and didn't expect it to be that high. There are quite a lot in American zoos too. They are kept privately as well of course, and out of interest I just did a quick Google search for price and in the UK they sell from £3,000, which is considerably less than a macaw in New Zealand! In America, a kea sells for around US$10,000 apparently. Obviously breeding pairs are much more expensive than individual birds.
Conversely, there are only three Kaka individuals outside of New Zealand, all born at Stuttgart Zoo and still there now; the zoo tried to get hold of fresh blood but the NZ refused to let any more out of the country.
zooboy28
Well-Known Member
They are relatively easy to acquire and breed quite well. The price on the mainland varies between 4000-6000 euro per pair so that UK price is quite in line with that. The main restriction for keeping keas is that you need to right aviary to keep something as destructive as a kea.
they aren't destructive, they are inquisitive!
They are just always wanting answers: How long will it take me to reduce that wooden support pole to sawdust? What does that shoe taste like? Can I crack that car's windscreen? Can that cat run faster than my beak can close?
Things like that.
I once saw a Kea walking around its enclosure at Bristol Zoo with a pot of yoghurt lodged firmly over its head about a half-hour later I passed the kea enclosure again and saw the same individual sat with a white head coated in yoghurt, with two other birds licking the yoghurt off and a third chewing the yoghurt pot a few feet away!
about a half-hour later I passed the kea enclosure again and saw the same individual sat with a white head coated in yoghurt, with two other birds licking the yoghurt off and a third chewing the yoghurt pot a few feet away!IanRRobinson
Well-Known Member
I wonder which would be driven mad first in a mixed exhibit: Ratels or Keas?
I wonder which would be driven mad first in a mixed exhibit: Ratels or Keas?
The keepers
kaka are nothing like a kea in terms of taking things apart. Kea of course are the way they are because of the environment they evolved in -- they need to be super intelligent and investigate everything just to survive in the mountains. Kaka still need properly-constructed aviaries (they are wood-borers, the NZ equivalent of a woodpecker, and feed to a great extent on beetle larvae dug out of trees) but because there is a lot more food in the forest they don't really have the same investigate-everything-and-take-it-apart attitude of the kea. Still really intelligent and need lots of stimulation, but that's true of all parrots. Kaka are great mimics too, especially of noises (car alarms, walkie-talkies, things like that) and they can apparently be taught to talk. Kea don't seem to mimic (at least not that I've ever heard).
I would say, treat kaka as other parrots, treat kea as monkeys.