Linda Meets Bruno

The Regenstein Birds of Prey Exhibit welcomed a new resident on Tuesday, July 25: an 8-year-old female cinereous vulture. The young vulture (shown in these photos), who arrived from Miami Zoo, was brought here as both a companion and hoped-for breeding mate to 30-year-old male Bruno.

Cinereous vultures are one of the largest birds of prey in the world with wingspans up to 10 feet. In the wild, they soar at high altitudes over remote dry plains, grasslands and mountainous forests seeking carrion—from large mammals to fish to reptiles—with superior vision. Yet this is a species threatened across its Eurasian range by habitat loss and a contaminated diet. They’ve had to go farther and farther to look for food, and often the items they eat are contaminated with pesticides and other harmful manmade products. In Spain, the establishment of “clean carcass areas” has helped the population in that country recover from the brink—providing a helpful lesson for other conservation efforts.

The species is monogamous, and since 1989 Bruno lived with his former mate, Lurch, another geriatric vulture who was humanely euthanized in 2015 due to quality-of-life issues. In 2013, that pair successfully raised a female vulture named Sophia.

Bruno's new companion is named Linda and is decidedly younger. But the pairing is a breeding recommendation under the Cinereous Vulture Species Survival Plan, a cooperative conservation effort across Association of Zoos and Aquariums-accredited institutions. Male and female cinereous vultures look very similar, but you can identify Bruno by the bluish coloration at the base of his beak, and Linda by her longer, more slender neck.

“At first, Bruno was a little wary about her,” says Lead Bird Keeper Chris Fuehrmeyer. “If she got too close while he was eating he’d make her back off. But he's quickly become more comfortable with her, and we hope to see courtship behavior between them next January-February during their breeding season.”

Fuehrmeyer descibes the new arrival as having a calm demeanor but also very active. “The second she was outside she ran to the keeper for food, she's excited about playing with her enrichment items, and she really wants to be near Bruno.”