Rare African hawk eagle chick hatched at Czech zoo in what is likely a European first
A small zoo near the Central Bohemian town of Kladno is celebrating an exceptional breeding achievement. At the end of March, a young African hawk eagle hatched at the Zájezd Zoopark, one of only three zoos in Europe that keep the species. According to available records, it could be the first successful breeding of the bird in a European zoo. To learn more, I spoke with Daniel Koleška, the zoo’s head of conservation projects and education.
African hawk eagles are quite rare in captivity. Why is that? And what makes breeding them so difficult?
“This species is quite rare in captivity. We are one of only three zoos in Europe that keep them, even though they are quite common in the wild and can be found across much of East Africa.
“The reason why they are so rare in captivity is not really known. However, one factor may be that African hawk eagles nest during what is winter here in Europe, while in Africa it is summertime. In other words, they have a reversed nesting cycle.
“During the 15 years we have kept them, we were unable to switch them to the European cycle. That may be one of the reasons why our first four breeding attempts were unsuccessful. This fifth time, for some unknown reason, we were lucky enough that the egg hatched.”
What do you think made the difference this time? As you said, this successful breeding follows several unsuccessful nesting attempts. Do you have any idea why it worked now?
“To be honest, we have no idea why this worked this time. The previous four times, the eggs were infertile. So why this suddenly happened and we have a successfully hatched egg, we don't know.
“We are trying to figure it out in cooperation with scientists to help us understand what the difference was. However, we will see next year whether the nesting will be successful again or not, to find out whether this new trend for us is going to continue.”
One of the more surprising things I read about this species is that they often lay two eggs, but the older chick may kill its younger sibling. Is that really true, and what is the reason behind this behaviour?
“This behaviour is quite common in birds, and they usually have surplus babies. Nature is hard, so usually the strongest and fittest individuals win over the weaker ones. That way, the parents are investing their energy into successful breeding.
“However, we don't have this experience in our breeding. Whenever we had an egg from an African hawk eagle, it was a single egg. So our understanding of the species so far is a little different from the information in the literature.
“However, there is so little information available because the species is so rarely kept that every single success is another piece of the puzzle in understanding the species and its ecology.”
I know the chick hatched back in March. Why did you wait until now to announce the news? And how is the young eagle doing today?
“Well, the eagle is almost as big as its parents. It still has darker feathers, so we are waiting for it to change into adult coloration.
“We were waiting because you never know what can go wrong, especially with these pioneering breedings. So our strategy was to wait until we were reasonably certain that the chick would survive and that everything was developing as it should.
“Of course, anything can happen, but now we are about 80 or 90 percent sure that we will successfully raise the chick and that it will soon reach adulthood. We might then be able to send it to a different zoo and expand this cooperation.”
According to available records, this may be the first successful breeding of an African hawk eagle in a European zoo. How significant would that achievement be for your zoo and for the wider zoo community?
“We are very proud of this achievement. Of course, it is mainly the achievement of the keepers. I'm just the one talking about it. Our zoo has had similar achievements before, not on a daily basis, but we have recorded a number of successes with chameleons, other bird species, and now the African hawk eagle.
“However, it is not as simple as it might seem because since we are one of only three zoos in Europe keeping this species, it may not be easy to find a breeding partner. We will try to get in touch with the other zoos and find a way to include our bird in their breeding programmes and perhaps start a longer-term cooperation between our institutions. We will see how that develops.
“For us, this is also a very important impulse for the future of keeping the species. We would like to build a new enclosure for the African hawk eagles, one that is better suited to helping them get through the winter here in the Czech Republic. We want to provide them with as much comfort as possible because this successful breeding has shown us that breeding the species is achievable, and we would like to have as many chicks as possible.“
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