Chester Zoo hails 'breakthrough' hatching of rare birds
The five secretarybird chicks are the first to hatch at the zoo in its 95 year history
Five rare secretarybird chicks have hatched at Chester Zoo, in what's been described as a "landmark" moment in efforts to save the species.
The chicks hatched to parents John and Jolene, who are arrived at the zoo as part of international efforts to save one of the most unusual birds of prey.
Unlike eagles and hawks, they can also hunt on foot, striding across African grasslands on long, thin legs in search of prey.
Their scientific name, Sagittarius serpentarius - meaning "the archer of snakes" - reflects their remarkable ability to hunt and kill venomous snakes by stomping on them.
The arrival of the chicks marks the first time secretarybirds have bred at the zoo in its 95-year history.
Experts believe the techniques developed here in Chester could now help other conservation zoos boost breeding success across Europe.
In recent decades, secretarybird numbers have declined dramatically as vast areas of Africa's grasslands have been lost to agriculture and urban development, reducing both their habitat and the prey they rely on to survive.
Today, it’s estimated that as few as 6,700 birds remain in the wild.
As numbers continued to plummet, the species was uplisted in 2020 to the ‘endangered’ status on the International Union for Conservation of Nature’s (IUCN) Red List - the second highest category of conservation concern before extinction in the wild.