Eight vulturine guineafowls found home in Feldman Ecopark. These large representatives of guineafowls, the natural habitat of which is semidesert and arid regions of Africa, appeared in the Regional Landscape Park within the project of free exchange of animals between zoos.
“It is a very bright and unusual bird. It has lilac, white, black and shining cobalt blue feathering. Vulturine guineafowl obtained its name for the form of head that has no feathering and reminds the head of vulture. As for the character and food preferences, vulturine guineafowls have nothing in common with vultures: they like vegetables and fruits, grain,” Feldman Ecopark’s deputy director of zootechnic issues Valeriia Ivashchenko told. “In addition to the striking appearance, the birds are also interesting for the fact that they fly unwillingly. With their strong, long legs, guineafowls prefer to run away as soon as they feel threat.”
The birds are in quarantine yet, so the visitors of Feldman Ecopark will be able to look at them later. They feel themselves well. The specialists note that these birds adapt themselves to various climatic conditions perfectly well.
It should be noted that the natural habitat of vulturine guineafowls is semidesert, scrubby regions of Ethiopia, Somalia and Kenya to northeast Uganda and Tanzania. They live in small flocks on the dry, dusty, scrubby plains. Adult guineafowls weigh up to 1,600g. The fly rarely for the distance of 50 – 500 metres maximum. In the twilight, guineafowls fly up to spend night on acacias.
It should be reminded that there is a total of 1,500 birds in the collection of Feldman Ecopark.
