LOUISVILLE, Ky. — Officials at the Louisville Zoo announced the birth of two hatchlings from one of the world’s most endangered bird species.
In a news release on Thursday, the zoo announced that two waldrapp ibis chicks hatched in late February. The zoo has had 18 ibis chicks hatch at the facility since 1993, but February’s new arrivals were the first in four years.
Waldrapp ibises, also known as northern bald ibis, are considered endangered by the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species, according to the news release. They weigh between 8 and 10 pounds and are between 27 and 47 inches long.
CHICK this out! Two waldrapp ibis chicks hatched at the Louisville Zoo (the first since 2018)!
— Louisville Zoo (@LouisvilleZoo) March 31, 2022
This bird species is endangered. Once widespread across Northern Africa and Europe, the wild populations now number only a few hundred individuals. https://t.co/ZeATsdSw1G pic.twitter.com/42DnllMXJy
A spokesperson for the zoo told WHAS-TV that the genders of the newly hatched birds are currently unknown but will be determined once they have fledged, which takes between 40 and 50 days, the television station reported.
The waldrapp ibis species has been reduced to two small populations in Morocco, according to WAVE-TV.
The Louisville Zoo is one of only 23 Association of Zoos and Aquariums members that exhibit this series, the zoo said in its release.
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