This puppet is growing a real vulture chick (instead of the mother): the proof that zoo is not the solution to save animals

While the zoo continue to tell each other how Protection and conservation centersthe story that comes from the Bronx zoo once again highlights the ambiguity of these structures: a royal vulture chick is nourished not from the mother, but from a puppet which faithfully imitates an adult of its species.

A gimmick that may seem tender or ingenious, but which actually tells yet another paradox: an animal that is born and grows inside an unnatural systemthen to be laboriously re -educated to the nature that has been denied to him.

This technique, known as “Puppet-Rearing”is not new. It is a technique already used for decades, which consists in using realistic replicas of adult birds to feed the little ones. In captivity, in fact, the real vultures can show unreliable behaviors in the care of the offspring. In some cases the mothers neglect the little onesmaking human intervention necessary to guarantee their survival.

“Artificial” life continues to be an alternative to freedom

In the case of the Bronx zoo, the artisan puppet, made by the park staff, It is used once a dayduring the only expected meal. The operator remains hidden behind a tent, wearing dark clothesSo that the chick sees only the beak and feathers of his “pezza parent”. After the baby food, the young vulture is placed next to a Live adult specimenin a nearby fence, for observe and learn typical behaviors of its species.

The experiment is presented as the result of a “careful ethological strategy”, but it must be remembered: The unnatural behavior of animals in captivity is the symptom, not the solution. Zoo remain artificial environments, where every attempt to approach nature is an artifice.

Of course, the project has a declared goal: to prepare the chick for reintroduction in nature. But the fact remains that This “half” life is the direct result of being born in captivity. The child has been the first born in the zoo since the 90s, and it is hoped that he brings ahead the genetic line of a now old father. A narrative that risks appearing positive, but that should rather make you think: because we need closed structures for save what should live free?

Even the most sophisticated treatments remind us that “artificial” life remains a compromise. The real goal is that one day similar precautions are no longer necessary, so that every vulture – and every animal – can grow free, in your natural habitat. And in the meantime, the zoo continue to profit from the exposure of living beings deprived of their freedom.