Comparison of Two Different Feather Sampling Methods to Measure Corticosterone in Wild Greater Flamingos (Phoenicopterus roseus) and Wild Mallards (Anas platyrhynchos)
This research project had the aim to validate the possible alternative and less-painful sampling method of cutting feathers close to the skin instead of plucking them for subsequent feather corticosterone analysis, confirming recently-published results for other species in captivity. Analyzing CORTf is often used in animal welfare studies in combination with behavioral monitoring. The background […]
Feather Corticosterone Measurements of Greater Flamingos Living under Different Forms of Flight Restraint
Deflighting zoo birds is a practice that receives increasing criticism due to its presumed incompatibility with animal welfare. To our knowledge, this is the first approach to address this problem in a scientific way. To do this, we compared feather corticosterone (CORTf) from Greater Flamingos (Phoenicopterus roseus, n = 151) of different flight status (i.e., […]
Hand-rearing Greater flamingos Phoenicopterus ruber roseus for translocation from WWT Slimbridge to Auckland Zoo
Twenty Greater flamingo Phoenicopterus ruber roseus eggs, originating from a flock held at the Wildfowl & Wetlands Trust, Slimbridge, UK, were hatched in incubators. The chicks were hand-reared in a pre-export isolation facility before being successfully translocated to Auckland Zoo, New Zealand, at 33–71 days of age. At Auckland Zoo the flamingos were held in […]
The effect of fine granular sand on pododermatitis in captive greater flamingos (Phoenicopterus roseus)
Pododermatitis is a worldwide health and animal welfare problem in captive flamingos (Phoenicopteridae). Since sub-optimal substrate or flooring has been described as a factor in the development of pododermatitis in poultry and raptors, it is also suspected to play a role in flamingo foot health. Small groups of flamingos were separated from the main group […]