The Bronx Zoo is using a hand puppet to feed a baby king vulture, a method designed to prevent the chick from imprinting on humans while ensuring its survival. This technique, developed by the zoo over four decades ago, mimics a real vulture to train the chick's instincts and has been instrumental in raising other bird species like the Andean condor and California condor. The puppet method is crucial because king vultures can sometimes neglect their offspring, and the presence of an adult vulture in a nearby enclosure helps the chick learn appropriate behavior. This newly hatched king vulture chick is the first at the Bronx Zoo since the 1990s and is significant for the continuation of its 55-year-old father's lineage, who has only one other offspring. The methods employed highlight the zoo's commitment to avian conservation and the sustainability of endangered species through innovative techniques.

The Bronx Zoo is hand-feeding a baby king vulture with a puppet that resembles an adult vulture to prevent the chick from imprinting on humans, a method used to ensure the chick's survival and proper development.

King vultures are known to sometimes neglect their chicks, making it necessary for the zoo staff to intervene with hand-feeding techniques that include using life-like puppets to guide the chick's instincts.

The zoo's puppet feeding method was pioneered over 40 years ago, originally developed to raise Andean condor chicks for eventual release into the wild, and has also contributed to the recovery efforts of the critically endangered California condor.

An adult king vulture is kept in an adjacent enclosure to the chick to provide exposure to natural vulture behaviors, which is essential for the chick's understanding of its species-specific actions and social cues.

The current king vulture chick is the first to be hatched at the Bronx Zoo in several decades, marking a significant event for the zoo as they aim to preserve the genetic line of the chick's 55-year-old father, who has limited offspring.

The puppet feeding technique underscores the zoo's ongoing commitment to avian conservation efforts and is a testament to their innovative strategies in sustaining and revitalizing populations of endangered bird species.

Footage from the zoo shows the puppet being used to feed the chick, demonstrating the careful and deliberate process undertaken by the zoo staff to balance human intervention with the chick's natural development needs.