Wellington Zoo has welcomed two female snow leopards - Asha and Manju. Video / RNZ
A team of zoo veterinarians are going to great lengths to stop a pair of motherless ruru chicks imprinting on them - including introducing a dummy ruru as a “surrogate mother”.
Vets at Wellington Zoo’s The Nest Te Kōhanga also have to wear big face shields, play ruru sounds, and avoid speaking out loud while they care for the “impressionable” young birds, for fear they will start identifying with humans.
“These two little chicks came to us just before New Year’s Eve,” said senior vet at the not-for-profit organisation, Kirsten Anderson.
The two ruru, or moreporks, were found by a member of the public sitting on a track in the Tararua Ranges with no sign of parents nearby.
The person who found them observed the birds for a while, including leaving them alone for some hours, but eventually came back and discovered their parents were still not present. Worried for the birds’ safety as there was a pack of hunting dogs about to enter the area, the person scooped them up and brought them to Te Kōhanga for care.
Anderson said the person did the right thing by waiting. Their advice was normally to leave the birds alone, but due to the risk from the dogs it was the right choice to bring them into the clinic, she said.
Since then, vets have been going to painstaking lengths to make sure the ruru don’t “imprint” on them, as they are in a “critical” period where they can begin to identify with whatever species they see caring for them or feeding them.
“When chicks are very young they will usually imprint with their parents when they’re feeding them . . . they identify with that species for life. It’s really important that we treat them appropriately during this critical development period.
“We’ve been using large face shields to cover our facial features,” said Anderson, describing the shields as what might have been spotted in a hospital during the earlier stages of the Covid pandemic. They cover the lower part of the shield with a sheet of some type, leaving only their eyes visible.
The vets also cover their hands with gloves and hold out food for the ruru with tongs, while holding a dummy ruru close to give the appearance the dummy is the one feeding the chicks.
One of the ruru chicks at The Nest Te Kōhanga. Photo / Wellington Zoo
“We’ve been very careful to avoid talking out loud in front of them,” Anderson added.
“Sometimes there’s sort of some wild gesticulating between us . . . we realised quite early on that you can’t lip read when you’re wearing the shields.”
The team also played ruru calls and forest noises for the chicks, which was also partly for enrichment.
The dummy ruru is used for feeding, as well as a comforting presence in the incubator. Photo / Wellington Zoo
The dummy ruru, referred to on social media as a “surrogate mother” for the “ particularly impressionable” chicks, remains in their incubator with them.
“If they imprint on a human, that would mean that they would be friendly with humans, which is absolutely what we don’t want to have with wild birds. We really want any bird that’s going to be living out in the wild to have a healthy distrust of humans.”
Ruru were susceptible to predators, and it was important for them not to trust other species.
Anderson now believes the chicks are about seven weeks old. They remain reliant on their parents for a month or two after this age, but should hopefully be ready to be released into the wild when they are flying well and self-feeding.
The two ruru are believed to be about seven weeks old now. Photo / Wellington Zoo
They currently weigh less than 10g less than adult ruru, have an “excellent appetite” and have bonded well with each other.
Anderson said the ruru were “really sweet little birds” and it had been a “cool project” for the vet team to care for them, with the extra work feeling like it “really pays off”.
The vets care for a diverse range of wildlife at Te Kōhanga, including many native birds, and must do their best to adapt their care to each species.
This included providing plenty of high perches for kererū, and opportunities for swimming for little blue penguins or kororā.
Melissa Nightingale is a Wellington-based reporter who covers crime, justice and news in the capital. She joined the Herald in 2016 and has worked as a journalist for 10 years.
