Just in time before the Christmas holiday season and rush, the San Francisco California Academy of Sciences hatched a unique tropical bird.
SF’s California Academy of Science is having a baby animal renaissance this holiday season. Until the end of the year, infant hooved animals (think reindeer and camels) have taken up temporary residence at the culture center. But Cal Academy recently welcomed a surprise baby into its captive wildlife collection — a freshly hatched red-crested turaco.
“Our pair of red-crested turacos, Skittles and Scarlet, hatched a new turaco chick just a few months after joining the Osher Rainforest canopy,” reads a press release from the California Academy of Sciences. While not considered an endangered species, red-crested turacos — as do all turacos — face population decline due to the climate crisis and deforestation. Only found in the forests of Angola, the habitat of red-crested turacos has been on a gradual decline since 1990 at a rate of about .25% each year; some simple maths means the forested habitat these rare birds occupy has shrunk nearly 10% over the span of three decades; the Angolan forests, which are among the most biodiverse on the planet, could be halved by the turn of the century.
Organized conservation efforts are vital to keeping such vulnerable species alive by maintaining survivor colonies inside zoological facilities.
“The new female chick was hatched as part of a Species Survival Plan (SSP) that will help maintain genetic diversity among populations in human care,” continues the release, highlighting the museum’s ongoing partnerships with SSP. “At just a few weeks old she still has her dark, downy baby plumage, but thanks to the expert care of Steinhart Aquarium’s Animal Health and Care Team she’ll soon be growing big and strong and showcasing her species’ brilliant rainbow coloring.”
As of publishing, the unnamed chick is still on open display inside the Osher Rainforest where her parents are tending to her kaleidoscopic glow-up and maturation.
Feature image: Turaco chick with parents. (Courtesy of Cal Academy)
