Denver Zoo welcomes their first successful hatching of a Kea – a rare species of bird found in New Zealand. The hatchling, Scarlet, is expected to make her public debut soon.
The Denver Zoo recently welcomed a new member to the family – a Kea named Scarlet. She is being hand-raised by the zookeepers at the avian propagation center. She is expected to make her debut in the near future.
Her mother came from a zoo in Seattle and her father from a zoo in Philadelphia. Scarlet is the first Kea to be successfully hatched at the Denver Zoo through a breeding program. It resulted in four eggs, and while the zoo keepers wanted the parents to raise the eggs themselves, the parents ended up breaking two of them. This forced the zoo to intervene and incubate them.
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photo courtesy of the Denver Zoo[/caption]
Unfortunately, out of those two remaining eggs, only one chick hatched... and that's Scarlet.
Once she is older, the intent is for her to be placed back with her parents. In the mean time, she'll remain in the zookeepers' care.
Check out the video below of baby Scarlet!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qIfea232g38&feature=youtu.be
Native to the sound island of New Zealand, Kea adults can grow 19 inches long and weigh only two pounds. Their name is derived from the sounds they make, which sounds like "kee-yah". It's been estimated that there are between 3,000 to 5,000 kea left in the wild, making the species vulnerable to threats like humans and predators (i.e., possums and stoats).
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photo courtesy of the Denver Zoo[/caption]
We're so excited to meet Scarlet! She's so
FLUFFY! You can see her soon at the Bird World habitat at the Denver Zoo.
Featured photo courtesy of the Denver Zoo.
