A rain coat hanging unused in the closet could help vultures in South Africa. So could heating pads, welding gloves and other items.
The Cheyenne Mountain zoo vultures know Turner, and she said they are curious but cautious. They have personalities and can be trained, much like dogs.A fast blood test has been used on the zoo birds, and if the process works with wild vultures in South Africa, it could be used to gain knowledge about vultures around the world. The work also will go toward building VulPro's educational program.Soon after her return from South Africa in February, Turner and four other zoo staffers will go to Panama as part of the zoo's ongoing participation in the Panama Amphibian Rescue and Conservation Project. Several zoos and organizations are working together to help save nearly extinct species.New World vultures, like the turkey vultures in Colorado during summers, rely on their strong sense of smell to find their meals. Old World vultures, such as the Cape Griffon vultures and the Eurasian Griffon vulture at the Cheyenne Mountain Zoo, use their keen sight to find food.Vultures spread out their wings in the sun for warmth and also to kill parasites that might have hopped on when feeding on a carcass."They don't have many predators, really humans are their number one concern," Turner said.During warmer months, the zoo vultures often can be spotted on the rocky ledges above the giraffe enclosure. During the winter, the African Rift Valley birds roost inside the heated giraffe barn.While Turner is a zoo ambassador on her trips, she expects to share stories and lessons learned with Cheyenne Mountain Zoo visitors.The vultures of the world are scavengers that often get a bad rap for doing the dirty work of cleaning up after predators. They actually are rather clean birds, Turner said."Their eyes and their gaze are so much like eagles," Turner said.Turner got a grant from Natural Encounters to conduct detailed health tests on wild Cape Griffon and African White-backed vultures, something that VulPro hasn't had the money to do.The whole procedure from capture to release should be done within 10 minutes for each bird, because they don't want to stress the vultures.Turner is part of a team of zoo keepers who care for all of the African animals, but the vultures are her favorites. However, her own conservation efforts are not limited to creatures with wings.With this trip, Turner is chasing her passion for the feathered scavengers.The Cheyenne Mountain Zoo vultures arrived in 2004 and are rehabilitated wild birds from South Africa. Wild vultures are threatened by inadvertent poisoning, power lines and the use of their body parts in traditional medicine.She'll work with the group to capture, tag and test the birds.Jenyva Turner, animal keeper for the African Rift Valley at the Cheyenne Mountain Zoo, will travel to a nature preserve near Johannesburg in a few weeks to work with an organization called VulPro.Contact the writer at 636-0162.The Cheyenne Mountain Zoo is home to three Cape Griffon Vultures, including one of only two breeding pairs in the United States - the other pair is at the Los Angeles Zoo. There are only 10,000 estimated to be living in the wild, Turner said."There's still educational work to be done with vultures," Turner said.-"I've always loved birds, vultures came later. They've grown on me over the years. I have a new found passion to save them," she said, recalling the time when she spotted a tree full of turkey vultures sunning themselves and showing off their 6-foot wingspans (the vultures at the zoo have even wider wingspans)."I think any time keepers or zoo staff get to go on these kinds of adventures it makes the guests' experience so much richer."The latest round of the zoo's ongoing fundraiser, Quarters for Conservation, featured the vultures, with zoo visitors dropping in 31,000 quarters as votes as of the end of November. A portion of zoo admission fees, memberships, and education and animal program fees are dedicated to zoo conservation projects selected by keepers.
Contact the writer at 636-0162.
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