The Zoo is
CLOSED
for the winter season.
Visit us when we
reopen in April 2010.

Ruppell's Griffon Vulture

Scientific Name:	Gyps rueppellii
Range:	Central Africa, including Ethiopia, the Sudan, Tanzania and Guinea
Habitat:	They nest on high cliffs. They rely on sight to locate their food so they prefer open, arid land instead of forested areas.
Natural Diet:	Scavengers; often eat animals who have died from old age, diseased animals, or still-born young.
Zoo Diet:	Bird of prey diet, rats, small bones
Physical Characteristics:	Adults are close to 3 feet in length. They weigh 15-20 pounds. Their bodies are mottled brown or black with a whitish-brown underbelly and thin white fluff covering the head and neck. They have long necks and small heads which allow them to dig deep inside animal carcasses. Also, their featherless heads allow them to feed without getting too messy.
Behavior:	Ruppell’s vultures roost, nest, and gather to feed in large flocks. They make large nests of sticks lined with grass and leaves. They can eat rotting flesh that contains anthrax, botulism, and cholera bacteria with no ill effects, because acids in the vulture’s stomach destroy these organisms.
Reproduction:	Ruppell’s Griffon vultures pair up for life. Both parents share in incubating, brooding (sitting on the eggs), and feeding the chicks. A single egg is laid each year. The incubation period is 55 days. The young bird is ready to fly in 12 weeks.