Special birth: palm vulture hatched in ZooParc Overloon

A palm vulture has hatched at ZooParc Overloon. It is only the third palm vulture that could be welcomed in one of the European zoos this year.

The youngster was born about six weeks ago at the zoo in Overloon and is growing like crazy, reports zookeeper Steven Van Den Heuvel. "Because it is rare to be able to admire such a small vulture in a zoo, it is really special to be able to witness it like this."

Two places

In the Netherlands, the palm vulture can only be seen in two places. In the wild, this species is found in forests and savannahs in sub-Saharan Africa, near water. These birds are also often called vulture eagles because in appearance they look more like an eagle than a vulture.

They are medium-sized black and white birds with a distinctive red patch around the eyes. Adults are 56 to 65 centimeters tall. Their broad but relatively short wings have a wingspan of 130 to 150 centimeters.

Hanging upside down

Unlike its better-known counterpart, the bird does not eat exclusively meat, but mainly fruits of the oil palm. It picks these fruits hanging upside down from the tree.