The Pinioning of birds in captivity, acceptable or cruel?

elefante said:
Because the trees are too big, the vultures can't get enough momentum to fly away. Visitors can just walk among the birds and the birds can fly a little bit but not enough to escape.
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I can't really see the point of exhibiting Vultures in most instances. They can't display their natural soaring behaviour, even in large flight 'aviaries' and mostly just sit and create large quantities of white splash droppings which aren't attractive to see.

Of course there are exceptions- Vultures used in flying displays, or those being bred for much needed-reintroduction schemes, but as a general zoo exhibit I think they make a poor showing.
 
....Pinioning....

If these vultures are in an open-topped enclosure, and not flight-restricted, I would expect them eventually to run up the sides and get out.
Cranes and some waterfowl will do this if they have a mind to.
Having said this, I do not like flight-restricted Vultures. I like to see them in aviaries large enough for some flight, though obviously they cannot soar.
 
Pertinax said:
I can't really see the point of exhibiting Vultures in most instances. They can't display their natural soaring behaviour, even in large flight 'aviaries' and mostly just sit and create large quantities of white splash droppings which aren't attractive to see.

Of course there are exceptions- Vultures used in flying displays, or those being bred for much needed-reintroduction schemes, but as a general zoo exhibit I think they make a poor showing.
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To some extent I agree, but it is worth remembering that vultures in the wild spend large amounts of time just sitting and are very reluctant to do anything if they're not hungry. In this Falco falcons that aren't used in flight displays are more problematic, but that is beyond the subject of this thread.

I do understand that it is well beyond what most zoos can provide, but the large vulture aviary at Berlin Tierpark is remarkable (see this and this) and I get the impression that it's reasonably popular with 'ordinary' zoo visitors too. However, despite its large size that allows real sustained flight, it obviously still doesn't allow real soaring. Regardless, a big step forward compared to most vulture aviaries, and especially compared to pinioning.
 
Jana said:
I think good zoos should be role models and show others how to keep wild animals in the best possible way. Deliberate mutilation of heathy birds goes, in my opinion, against it.

Maybe it is the right time for tags/studbook keepers to conduct large surveys to identify the results of keeping and breeding of pinioned and un-pinioned birds? So that the opinions would not be based mostly on anecnotical stories.

New cheap elastic nets make larger aviaries affordable even for small zoos. Who knows, the lower adult mortality, protection of chicks against vermin, reduced food bills etc. may even do aviaries economically profitable for zoos at the end. Maybe most zoos have just never considered, and just accepted that waterbird aviaries are a too big hassle to even think about it?
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That would be the sensible approach for TAGs indeed. Esp. the cheap elastic netting alternative seems promising (did not know this existed). Has this type of netting proven to be effective against vermin entering?
 
It depends on the material chosen. An additional hotwire along the perimeter
should make it 99% safe against any vermin (with exception of the
two-legged ones).

Here is a pic of a nice example, a cheap and esthetically good
solved aviary for african waterfowl (saddle-billed storks etc.) at Zlin zoo.

Pic of an aviary
 
In my opinion, it depends on what bird. If it were birds like certain waterfowl and flamingos, which don't fly that much, but rather go around by water or on foot, I would think that yes, it would be a loss for them, but better being in a open space than still being able to fly but trapped in some mesh prison. For waterfowl or ground-based birds like pheasants, I guess it is in some way acceptable. However, for mostly flight-based birds in vultures, I don't think it is acceptable to have them pinioned and left to wander by foot between the hooves of gazelles and antelope, so out of their natural element, the sky. Same goes for certain species of migratory seabirds, which I honestly don't think should be kept in zoos unless they're being nursed back to health from a incident or something like that.
 
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