A Sea Eagle Update May 7, 2010

Now that the eagles have landed in their new home at the Assiniboine Park Zoo, I thought it would be good to update our Steller’s sea eagle fact sheet. So here you go!

.

At the Assiniboine Park Zoo:

• The relocation of our sea eagles places them into the Asian area of the Assiniboine Park Zoo, across the path from our Amur tigers.

Stanley:

• Our male came to us in 2006 from the Lieberec Zoo in the Czech Republic. He was born in 2005.

Stella:

• Our female came to us in 2005 from the Tallinn Zoo in Estonia. She was born in 2003.

.

Fast Facts:

• Scientific name means “Eagle of the open seas”
• The Steller’s sea eagle has been designated a national treasure in Russia. They are also honoured in Japan where they are known as “O-Washi”.
• Persecuted by hunters and poachers for stealing trapped animals.
• They are diurnal (active during the day)
• Adult eagles have about 7000 feathers.
• They are named after Georg Steller (1709-1746), a German biologist. He also lent his name to the Steller’s jay, Steller’s sea lion (endangered), Steller’s eider (a type of duck – vulnerable), and the Steller’s sea cow (extinct).

.

Status in the Wild: Vulnerable

• Wild population estimated at 5000 and dropping according to the IUCN.
• The wild population is declining due to habitat loss, water pollution (from DDT/PCB’s), over-fishing (loss of prey), lead shot hunting (lead poisoning from scavenging) and other factors.

.

Sea Eagles:

• Steller’s sea eagles (Haliaeetus pelagicus) are one of eight species of sea eagle
• The Steller’s sea eagle is also known as the Pacific eagle and the white-shouldered eagle.
• The Steller’s sea eagle is considered the most powerful and aggressive of its cousins, the bald eagle and the white-tailed sea eagle
• This group frequent coasts, lakes and rivers

• This species is dark brown but dramatically coloured when mature with a white tail, white shoulders, white rump, and white thighs

Stella and Stanley inspect one of their new nest boxes. Photo by Darlene Stack, Assiniboine Park Zoo

Height, Weight, Length:

• Males: weigh up to 6kg
• Females: weigh up to 9kg
• Females average 2 to 4kg larger than males
• Steller’s sea eagles are amongst the largest and heaviest eagles in the world. They are similar in size to the Philippine eagle and the harpy eagle from South America.

• Adult Steller’s have an average wingspan of 2.3 metres (7.5 ft)
• Females have a larger wingspan than males
• Sea eagles stand 85 to 94cm high

Distribution:

• Russia: Kamchatka / Amur river, Northern Korea, China and Japan
• Breeds in Russia and over winters in Japan

Maturity:

• 4 to 5 years for sexual maturity
• 6 to 8 years for adult plumage

Sea Eagle Diet:

• 80% fish (e.g. cod), 10% birds (ducks, gulls), 5% mammals, and 5% other (crabs, shellfish, squid, carrion)

• Like other eagles, Steller’s also steal food from other birds.
• Four Steller’s sea eagle hunting techniques have been recorded:

1. Diving off a perch for food

2. Flying over the water and picking up food

3. Wading in shallow water for food

4. Stealing food from other birds, a practice known as “kleptoparasitism”

.

References:

• IUCN Redlist, Arkive, Birdlife International, San Diego Zoo, National Geographic Society, Assiniboine Park Zoo Education Library
• Revised May 3, 2010

Compiled by Scott Gray, Education Director

Kookaburras – The Bushman’s Clock April 18, 2010

Chris Reid and I just finished talking about the kookaburra on Zoo Knew (Sundays at 7:15 am on CJOB 68) . These birds can be seen in the Tropical House at the Assiniboine Park Zoo.

Kookaburra (aka: Laughing kookaburra): Is sometimes called the Bushman’s Clock because of its habit of calling in the morning and evening. Their call sounds like loud, raucous laughter.

.

The (laughing) kookaburra

Food: The kookaburra is a carnivorous bird and is known as a stand and wait hunter.

• The kookaburra eats both invertebrates (worms, insects, snails) and vertebrates (birds, rodents, lizards, amphibians and snakes)
• Small prey is crushed while larger prey is killed by bashing it against at branch or by dropping from a height.

.

Size: Length: 45 cm  (18 in),  Weight: 0.5 kg  (1.1 lbs)

• The kookaburra is gray-brown above and gray-white on the head and underparts. It has a dark eye stripe and a barred tail. It has a long, stout (broad), dagger-like bill. It has a large head, a stubby tail and short legs.

.

Habitat: The kookaburra lives away from water in woodland and scrub. It is a tree (or wood) kingfisher,  which is the most numerous of the three families of birds in the kingfisher group. The other two families are the river kingfishers and the lake kingfishers.

Distribution: South and East Australia. Introduced to Tasmania and other islands.

.

Find out more about the Assiniboine Park Zoo’s kookaburras here: http://www.assiniboinepark.ca/media/animals/pdf/Laughing%20Kookaburra.pdf

.

Compiled by Scott Gray, Zoo Education Director

References: Birds of the World (Paragon Publishing, 2005), the National Zoo, www.avianweb.com.

Markhor – Our Wild Goats March 21, 2010

The Assiniboine Park Zoo introduced a new young breeding male to its herd of female markhor. Here is some information to introduce you to these wonderfully active and agile wild goats with huge spiraling horns.

• The markhor (as well as the zoo’s Alpine ibex) is a member of the goat family, indigenous to Central Asia. There are three subspecies, of which the Assiniboine Park Zoo exhibits Capra falconeri heptneri

IUCN Status: Endangered

• Population: 2,500 worldwide with no sub-population more than 250
• The reasons for the markhor’s decline include intensive hunting (for trophies, meat and the Asian medicine market), disturbance and loss of habitat due to expanded human settlement, and competition from domestic livestock.

Distribution:

• The range of the markhor has historically extended through the mountainous regions from Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan and Tajikistan to Afghanistan, Pakistan and northern India (Kashmir)

Biology and Ecology

Head-Body Length: 140 – 180 cm

Weight: Females weigh 30 – 40 kg+ (70 – 90 lb+). Males weigh 80 – 110 kg (180 – 240 lb)

Habitat:

• The markhor lives on dry mountain cliff-sides at altitudes ranging from 700 m (2300′) from November to May up to 4000 m (13,000′) in the summer.
• It avoids deep snow.

• The markhor occupies arid cliff-side habitats in sparsely wooded mountainous regions at altitudes ranging from 700 m (2300′) from November to May up to 4000 m (13,000′) in the summer.

Reproduction and Lifespan:

• Mating occurs during winter
• Births occur from late April to early June
• Birth Rate: one or two
• They live to at least 13 years

Food in the Wild:

• The markhor is a grazer in the spring and summer where it mainly grazes on tussocks of grass. It turns to browsing when the grasses have dried up, eating leaves and twigs.

Fun Facts

• The markhor is a browser and will climb trees in search of nutritious leaves, even as high as 4 – 6 m (15 – 20′) above the ground.
• Markhor horns are in demand for traditional Asian medicine. They are also one of the most desired of all hunting trophies due to length, which can exceed 1.5 m (60″).
• The name markhor is derived from the Persian mar, a snake, and khor, eating. This name is puzzling, since the markhor is a vegetarian, although it has been known to kill snakes.

Zoo Pictures: Markhor

.

References:

• www.animalinfo.org
• www.arkive.com
• Nowak, R.M. (1999) Walker’s Mammals of the World. Johns Hopkins University Press, Baltimore.
• IUCN Redlist

Compiled by Scott Gray

European Bison March 14, 2010

The European bison, also known as wisent, is the cousin of the North American bison. Wisent are currently listed as Vulnerable by the IUCN, but their status was much worse nearly a century ago. Due to a combination of habitat loss, war and poaching, the wisent was declared extinct in the wild after the last one was shot in 1921. Thankfully, 56 wisent survived in zoos scattered around Europe and a joint breeding program was quickly set up to save the species. It took nearly thirty years but the European bison began to be reintroduced throughout the forests of Belarus, Poland, Russia, Lithuania and the Ukraine in the early 1950′s.

The current wild wisent population is less than 2,500 as their success is still hampered by a lack of habitat but nearly 1,400 live in 250 zoos and game preserves around the world. We currently have 1.6 (one male, six female) European bison at the Assiniboine Park Zoo.

.

Are bison and buffalo the same thing?

No. Bison belong to the family Bovidae, which include wild and domestic cattle as well as buffalo, but there are a number of significant differences between the two.

Bison:

• Live in North America and Europe
• Have long shaggy hair
• Have large shoulders and pronounced humps
• Have short horns

Buffalo:

• Live in Africa (cape buffalo) and Asia (water buffalo)
• Have short thin hair
• Have smaller shoulders and no humps
• Have long horns

.

Life Span: up to 27 years

Habitat: Mixed and deciduous forests, meadows

Height (at the shoulders): 1.8 – 2 metres

Weight: 800- 1000 kg

Body Length: 2.9 metres

Tail Length: 80 cm

.

Thanks to everyone that listens to Zoo Knew every Sunday morning at 7:15 on CJOB68, where we talked about bison this morning. I hope you’ll take a chance to visit the Assiniboine Park Zoo today or in the near future to view both our European and our North American bison herds. If you’re not in Winnipeg, take a visit to your nearest zoo to find out about all of the amazing animals that live there. Take part in a guided tour or read some of the interpretive signs and find out what your local zoo is doing to save and preserve endangered species. I think you’ll be surprised how much work zoos do! Please feel free to send me your comments or links to success stories.

Cougars at Assiniboine Park Zoo February 22, 2010

Chris Reid and I talked yesterday (at 7:15 am on CJOB 68′s Weekend Wake-Up Show) about cougars on Zoo Knew. With Ayla the cougar‘s recent passing, we felt it was appropriate to highlight these wonderful animals. You can still see Ayla’s partner Max in his enclosure, located in the North American animal area. The Assiniboine Park Zoo is open all winter from 10 am to 4 pm.

.

Here are a few fun fast facts that we didn’t have a chance to include in our chat:

• Cougars are the second largest cat in the Americas. The jaguar is the largest.

• Cougars are the largest of the three cats that live in Canada (including the lynx and the bobcat).
• Cougars have the largest range of all terrestrial mammals in the western hemisphere

.

A Cat of Many Names:

The cougar’s scientific name, Puma concolor, literally means cat of one colour. Regionally though, it is known by many common names, depending on local culture and legend.

• The Maliseet of New Brunswick call the cougar “pi-twal,” meaning “the long-tailed one.”
• The English name “cougar” and the French “couguar,” now widely used in Canada, were adapted from the Brazilian native name “cuguacuarana.”
• The name “mountain lion” is extensively used in the western United States.
• “Puma” is the native Peruvian name.
• Other names you may have heard include: mountain lion, Mexican lion, deer tiger, mountain screamer, Florida panther, painter and catamount.

.

Speed:

• The cougar can run as fast as 55 to 72 km/h (35 to 45 mi/h)
• By comparison, the house cat = 50km and the cheetah = 100km

Diet:

• Cougars are obligate carnivores, like all cats, feeding only on meat.
• Cougars hunt mule deer, white-tailed deer, elk, moose calves, and in the west, bighorn sheep
• Cougars will also eat a large array of available prey species if they are available. These include birds and other mammals, such as the beaver, snowshoe hare, ground squirrel, and rodents.

.

Big Air:

• Cougars have an exceptional vertical leap (up), reported at 5.4 m (18 ft) .
• Cougars can jump horizontally (along the ground) at nearly 12 m (40 ft) from a standing position.

.

References:

• “Great Cats – Majestic Creatures of the Wild“, Zoo Library Reference
• www.hww.ca
• www.waza.com

Flamingos for Valentine’s Day February 14, 2010

Chris Reid and I discussed flamingos on this morning’s Zoo Knew segment (heard every Sunday at 7:15 am) on the Weekend Wake-up Show on CJOB 68. Chris’s theme today was Valentine’s Day and what better animal for  February 14th than flamingos!? The zoo is open year round and visiting the flamingos, even in the winter, is a great way to spend an afternoon. You might even be lucky enough to watch the flamingos dance for you! The whole flock gets involved and they use the whole “dancing floor” to strut their stuff, show off their colourful feathers and create quite the noisy ruckus.  If you would like to visit the Assiniboine Park Zoo today to see the flamingos, the zoo is open from 10 am to 4 pm.

For more information on this month’s special Zoodoption Animal of the Month, the flamingo, please visit www.zoosociety.com

• A special animal is available to be zoodopted every month for the special rate of $25.00. You can Zoodopt any animal of your choice at any level during the year, but if you choose our “Animal of the Month” you will receive the same package as the Friend level for the special price of $25.00.

.

Information on Flamingos

• Long legs, a long, curved neck, a gooselike voice, and down-curved bills adapted for filter feeding, are characteristics of all flamingo species.
• The joint in their leg about halfway up that looks like a backward knee is actually an ankle. And, like all birds, they walk on their toes.

Habitat:

• Brackish inland lakes, coastal shores, mudflats, saltpans, saline lagoons

Diet:

• Algae, small crustaceans, molluscs, and aquatic insects in the wild

• Poultry pellets, dried shrimp, meat and bone meal at the zoo
• Here at the zoo we include synthetic canthaxanthin (a carotenoid pigment) to the flamingos diet to avoid their feathers losing the beautiful colouring. A similar pigment is found naturally in the crustaceans that they eat in the wild.
• The angled beak of the flamingo has a sieve‑like structure for capturing small aquatic organisms. They will stamp their webbed feet in the mud to stir up food from the bottom. They then tip their heads upside down, flutter their bills and strain water through their bill, catching food in their lamellae.

.

Fast Facts:

• The word flamingo is originally derived from the Portuguese for ‘red goose’
• Flamingos are an ancient group of birds. Their fossil records date back about 10 million years ago.
• Both male and female, provide their young with a type of milk called crop milk.
• Flamingos have different leg coloring from species to species.
• Flamingos are naturally born white.

• Most flamingo populations require a large colony for successful breeding. This poses difficulties for breeding flamingos in zoos. Small groups have been tricked into displaying breeding activity by using mirrors (making it look like the group is larger than it really is).

• There are six species, four native to the Americas and two living in parts of Africa, Europe, and Asia. Some authorities recognize five species and consider the Caribbean and greater flamingos to be sub-species.

.

Caribbean Flamingo: (Phoenicopterus ruber)

• We have approximately 30 Caribbean flamingos, housed in two flocks at the zoo.
• The Caribbean flamingo is also known as the American or roseate flamingo.

Size: Approximately 80 – 145 cm (31 –57 in.) long

• Females tend to be smaller than males

Weight: Approximately 1.9 – 3 kg (4.2-6.6 lbs)

Range: South America and the Caribbean with a small population in the Galapagos

Status: Not threatened

• Population decline due to pollution, loss of habitat and hunting.
• Total population is estimated 80,000 – 90,000 birds.

.

Greater Flamingo: (Phoenicopterus roseus)

• The Assiniboine Park Zoo acquired a dozen greater flamingos in the winter of 2007.

• The greater flamingo is lighter in colour then the Caribbean and is the most widespread of all flamingo species.

Size: 91 to 127 cm (36 to 50 in)

• Wingspan is 140-165 cm

Weight: Average 8.75 lbs (4 kg)

Range and Status:

• Southern Africa: 55,000 (decreasing). West Africa: 30,000-60,000 (trend unknown). Eastern Africa: 35,000 (decreasing). West Mediterranean: 80,000 (increasing). East Mediterranean and Asia: 500,000 (stable)

.

References:

• World Association of Zoos and Aquariums
• BirdLife International
• Sea World Infobooks
• Assiniboine Park Zoo Education Archives

Compiled by Scott Gray and Jenna Harrison, Zoological Society of Manitoba

Revised February 13, 2010

Wolverines – Zoo Knew December 20, 2009

Chris Reid and I talked this morning on the Weekend Wakeup Show on CJOB 68 about wolverines. As I mentioned on air, I try to provide some extra information on this blog about our weekly animal so remember to visit the site each week to learn more. On a side note, the Assiniboine Park Zoo’s wolverines are probably loving this mild winter weather. If you haven’t been to the zoo in a while, the Christmas break is a great time to do so.

.

Wolverine

We have 2.0 wolverines at the Assiniboine Park Zoo.

• “Huey” was born in the wild Yukon and arrived at APZ in July 2002.
• “Grizz” was born in 1999 at Yukon game farm, where he lived for three years. He spent the next seven at the St. Felicien Zoo, moving to our facility in June 2009.

• The Assiniboine Park Zoo’s first wolverine was name Vishinski and he arrived at the zoo in 1952. The zoo has continuously had wolverines since 1978.
• Six offspring have been sent to zoos throughout North America over the years including Minnesota, Grand Rapids, Pennsylvania and St Felicien.

• The Assiniboine Park Zoo’s wolverines are not part of a Species Survival Program at the moment. The IUCN currently lists them as a species of Least Concern in most of the areas that they are found.

General Information:

• Wolverines do not hibernate but they do den.
• The wolverine is the largest member of the weasel family.
• The wolverine is known as Canada’s “Hyena” because of its powerful jaws and large teeth are able to demolish frozen carrion and bone.
• It has poor eyesight but an excellent sense of smell.

• Wolverines have thick, dark, oily fur that is highly hydrophobic (“water repellent”), making it resistant to frost. This unfortunately makes them popular for hunting and trapping.

• Wolverines have anal scent glands for marking territory and sexual signalling. From this potent smell they’ve been given the nickname “skunk bear“.
• Wolverines communicate through vocalizations and scent marking.
• Average lifespan of wolverines in the wild is 7 to 12 years.

Distribution and Habitat:

• Wolverines are circumpolar.
• Wolverines are sparsely distributed in Canada’s northern boreal forests, but are more plentiful on the tundra and at higher elevations in the Rockies.
• They are native to the western United States (including Alaska), Canada, Russia, Finland, Estonia, Mongolia, China, Norway, and Sweden.

Natural Diet:

• They are opportunistic scavengers feeding on carrion (various deer species, seal) whenever possible.
• They will also hunt smaller prey (rodents, rabbits, ptarmigan)

Zoo Diet:

• Raw meat, chickens, rabbit and rodents

Size:

• Wolverines are stocky and muscular, with short legs, a broad rounded head, small eyes and short rounded ears.
• It has broad five-toed paws and a plantigrade posture that help through deep snow. It resembles a small bear mixed with a ferret.

Body length: 65 – 87 cm (25 – 34 inches)

Tail length: ~25 cm (~10 inches)

Weight: 10–25 kg (22 – 55 lb).

• Large males can weigh over 31 kg (70 lb)
• Males are around 30 percent larger than the females. It is the largest of terrestrial mustelids.

References:

Arkive, The Wolverine Foundation, IUCN, National Geographic and others

Compiled by Scott Gray, Jenna Harrison and Jesse Kindzierski; December 19, 2009

New Meerkat Baby at the Assiniboine Park Zoo December 16, 2009

Slender-tailed Meerkats

The Kinsmen Discovery Centre at the Assiniboine Park Zoo has recently been filled with the tiny calls of its first meerkat baby in 20 years!

The zoo’s newest addition was born November 3, 2009 and is the first since 1989. The pup, now six weeks old, is eating some solids but staying close to its mom. The other females in the group are also busy, acting as babysitters just as they would in the wild.

The new pup is full of energy and getting out of the burrows to explore the enclosure. Zookeepers have noticed that this pup is a brave one, even trying to push the adult males off of their food so the pup can eat first.

Don’t wait to visit; meerkats are considered pups only for the first 10 months.

Meerkats at the Assiniboine Park Zoo

• Our group, as of December 2009, consists of 2.3.1 meerkats.

• Our two males are from Riverview Park Zoo and the Peterborough Zoo. They arrived at here in November of 2003.
• Our three females came from the Lowry Park Zoo in Tampa in October of 2008. They are born in late 2005/early 2006.

• Our meerkat colony is not part of a Species Survival Program since the species is listed by the IUCN as a “Species of Least Concern”.

A Bit of Biology/Ecology:

Fun Facts:

• Meerkats are immune to small amounts of scorpion venom and they often prey on them. Meerkats remove the scorpion’s stinger and brush off the body in the sand to remove any residual traces of venom just to be safe.
• Meerkats can close their ears – to prevent sand entering them.
• Meerkats have a nictitating membrane, or clear third eyelid, to keep sand out of their eyes.

• The meerkat (Suricata suricata) is a member of the mongoose family.

Range:

• Dry grassland, often on hard or stony ground, in southern Africa

• The meerkat is most closely associated with the dry open country of the Kalahari Desert, with its short grass and sparse woody scrub.

Wild Diet:

• Meerkats could be classified as insectivores as more than 80% of their diet includes insects as well as other invertebrates like scorpions.
• Meerkats are generally classed as omnivores because they also include bird eggs, plant roots/fruits, lizards and snakes in their diet.

On Guard:

• Meerkats are active during the day (diurnal) so members of a group take turns watching for predators. There is always at least one of sentinel (standing upright on high ground or termite nest) on active “guard duty” at all times.
• The meerkats’ main predators are birds of prey.

Burrows:

• Meerkats share their burrow with African ground squirrels.
• They also share their burrow with several types of beetles including dung beetles.
• Meerkats live in multi-tunnel burrows with an average of 15 entrances. There are many rooms in a burrow, many at 1.5 to 2 metres below the ground.

Size:

• A body length of 10 – 12 inches
• A tail length of 8 – 10 inches
• Weigh less than 2.2 lbs (<1kg)

Meerkat Groups:

• A colony or mob averages 15 individuals in the wild. It can range from a single pair to as many as 50 members and contain several related families.
• The dominant female is the only one to breed when food is scarce. She will allow related females to breed if there is enough food to sustain the extra babies.
• At all times, non-breeding females will help baby-sit the offspring.

Lifespan:

• As long as 12 to 15 years in captivity
• Up to 10 years in the wild but the average is only 3 years.

Compiled by Scott Gray, Education Director, Zoological Society of Manitoba

References: Arkive, National Geographic, Kalahari Meerkat Group, Assiniboine Park Zoo

Arctic Fox – Zoo New Segment on CJOB December 7, 2009

Scott Gray and Chris Reid spoke about the Assiniboine Park Zoo’s Arctic foxes this past Sunday on the Weekend Wakeup Show at 7:15 am. We hope you’ll tune in every Sunday morning to listen to the show and our new zoo segment.

Arctic Fox

We currently have 2.3 Arctic foxes at the Assiniboine Park Zoo

• In the zoo world, “2.3 foxes” is a quick way of saying two males and three females.
• If young foxes were born (let’s pretend four of them) and zoo staff don’t yet know yet if they are male or female, they would say there are 0.0.4 with the .4 meaning unknown gender.
• Another example: 3.5.1 means 3 males, 5 females and 1 unknown gender

All of our Arctic foxes arrived at the Assiniboine Park Zoo as pups in November 2003. Our two breeding pairs have had 28 offspring to date. These offspring have been shipped to zoos all over the world including Switzerland, France, and the US and throughout Canada.

Arctic Fox Litters:

• Are very large – between 10 and 25 depending on lemming populations.
• This is the largest litter size of all the carnivores
• This species of fox becomes sexually mature at 9 to 10 months
• Survival rate is low being about 25% for kits and 50% for adults

A Bit of Biology/Ecology:

• There are 20 species of fox worldwide.
• Arctic foxes live throughout the treeless Arctic and alpine tundra
• Their circumpolar population is several hundred thousand. They are not yet part of an species survival program because of a relatively stable wild population.

Size:

• Height: ~1 foot at the shoulder
• Length: Average about 21 inches long in addition to an 11-inch tail
• Weight: 6 to 11 lbs

Diet:

Arctic foxes are opportunistic hunters, preying on lemmings, voles, squirrels, birds and their eggs, berries, hare and fish. They will also eat carrion, often scavenging scraps of meat from wolves and polar bears.

Cold Hardy Adaptations:

Arctic foxes were made for living in the cold.

• They have short muzzles, short legs, and small ears, which reduces heat loss and the chance of frostbite.
• Their metabolic rate only starts to increase at -50C and they begin to shiver at -70C.
• They have three times as much underfur as the red fox.
• They have densely furred feet pads, which helps prevent slipping and greatly increase warmth of the foot.
• Their feet can remain just above freezing thanks to specialised muscles and blood flow (peripheral thermoregulation). Other animals, like caribou and some northern waterfowl have this feature where cold blood is warmed as it moves into the body.

Compiled by Scott Gray, Education Director, Zoological Society of Manitoba

References: WAZA, Woodland Park Zoo, Oppenheim Zoo, Detroit Zoo

Steller’s Sea Eagles – CJOB Zoo Knew December 4, 2009

Amur tigers were discussed on “Zoo New”, Sunday November 29, 2009 on the CJOB 68 Weekend Wakeup Show with Chris Reid.

Steller’s Sea Eagle

At the Assiniboine Park Zoo:

Male: Stanley came from a zoo in the Czech Republic. He was born in 2005.

Female: Stella came from a zoo in Estonia. She was born in 2003

The Assiniboine Park Zoo’s Steller’s sea eagle are the only ones on exhibit in Canada

IUCN Red List Status: Vulnerable

Due to habitat loss, pollution DDT/PCB’s, over fishing (loss of prey), lead shot hunting (lead poisoning from scavenging)

• Wild population estimated at 5000 (as of 2006)

Sea Eagles:

• One of eight species of sea/fish eagle
• Close relatives: North American bald eagle and the white-tailed eagle
• Frequent coasts, lakes and rivers

A Bit of Biology/Ecology:

Weight:

• Males: weigh up to 6kg
• Females: weigh up to 9kg (females 2 to 4kg larger than males)
• Steller’s sea eagles are similar in size to the Philippine eagle and the harpy eagle.

Average wing length:

• Males = 590mm /1.9 ft.
• Females = 660mm/2.1 ft
• Total wingspan: up to 8 ft for females

Height: 85 to 94cm

Distribution:

• Russia: Kamchatka / Amur river, Northern Korea, China and Japan
• Breeds in Russia and over winters in Japan

Maturity:

• 4 to 5 years for sexual maturity
• 6 to 9 years for adult plumage

Lifespan: unknown

Sea Eagle Diet: 80% fish, 10% birds, 5% mammals, and 5% other

Fast Facts:

• Very little is known about these birds
• Scientific name means “Eagle of the open seas”
• Are honoured in Japan. Their Japanese name is “O-Washi”.
• Persecuted by hunters and poachers for stealing trapped animals.
• Are diurnal (active during the day)
• Adult eagles have about 7000 feathers.
• Are named after Georg Steller (1709-1746), a German biologist who also lent his name to the Steller’s jay, Steller’s sea lion (endangered), Steller’s eider (duck- vulnerable), and Steller’s sea cow (extinct).

Compiled by Scott Gray, Education Director, Zoological Society of Manitoba

Website References:

Arkive   http://www.arkive.org/, Birdlife International   http://www.birdlife.org/, San Diego Zoo    http://www.sandiegozoo.org/, IUCN Redlist