Page 33 - Bookfield Zoo Chicago Annual Report 2024

Helmeted
Curassow Chick

On July 31, an endangered helmeted
EPAULETTE SHARK curassow hatched at Brookfield Zoo
The Living Coast Chicago, but its life began at Lincoln
Park Zoo. Because the parents were
Epaulette Shark Home’s Hingeback young and unexperienced, staff at HELMETED
TORTOISES Lincoln Park Zoo removed the fertile CURASSOW
Zoo Wide
On August 23, an epaulette shark pup egg from the nest and placed it in

hatched at Brookfield Zoo Chicago. artificial incubation to be hand reared
The hatching of four Home’s hinge-
The adult female shark that produced by human caregivers. This increased
back tortoise eggs at Brookfield Zoo
the egg had not been housed with the odds that the egg would hatch
Chicago last summer was celebrated.
a male since arriving at the Zoo in successfully; however, it also raised
It’s been 38 years since this species
2019. At that time, she was only the risk that the hatchling would
successfully hatched at Brookfield
3 years old; the species reaches imprint on its human caretakers.
Zoo Chicago. They are critically en-
sexual maturity around 7 years of
dangered partly due to poaching for Imprinting refers to the attachment
age. Under these circumstances,
sale in the international pet trade. formed between a newborn animal
animal care staff believe the female
and its first caretaker, usually its
produced a fertile egg without it These hatchlings owe their lives
mother. Hand rearing long-lived birds,
being fertilized by a male’s genetic to the amazing work of the Zoo’s
such as curassows, can have long-
material. This reproductive process dedicated veterinary and animal care
term effects on their ability to adapt
known as parthenogenesis occurs staff. Their parents, which now live in
to life as a bird, including their future
when an embryo develops from an Reptiles and Birds, were nursed back
ability to breed and rear offspring.
unfertilized egg cell. to health after being illegally traf-
ficked and confiscated at a California The egg was transferred to Brook-
Parthenogenesis is a natural
airport by the U.S. Fish and field Zoo Chicago. Once it hatched,
occurrence in some invertebrates,
Wildlife Service. the hatchling was placed with two
but less so in complex vertebrates,
similar-age peafowl for companion-
including sharks. It is believed Brook- The tortoises are native to moist,
ship and to help it adapt to life as a
field Zoo Chicago is only the second humid areas bordering the Gulf
bird. As it grew larger, it was eventual-
Association of Zoos and Aquariums’ of Guinea in western Africa.
ly placed with other curassows.
accredited facility to report a poten- The small-to-medium-sized tortoises
tial epaulette shark pup produced by are named for the “hinge” in the rear
an asexual reproduction. of their carapace which enables
them to completely disappear into
their shell. The species is unusual
because it is omnivorous with a diet
HOME’S HINGEBACK
that includes insects, small amphibi-
TORTOISE
ans, fish, and carrion. Most tortoises
Reptiles & Birds
are herbivores.
ANNUAL REPORT 2023 29