Bronx Zoo Storks Foster Abandoned Egg, Raise Chick As Their Own
NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) - Apparently this stork had a face only a surrogate mother could love.
A pair of lesser adjutant storks at the Wildlife Conservation Society's Bronx Zoo have hatched two chicks.
The twist is that one of the pair wasn't theirs.
Workers with the Ornithology Department found an egg abandoned by another pair of adult storks who were inexperienced parents, according to the WCS.
The egg was moved to an incubator, and after it was determined to be fertile, it was moved to the nest of another pair of storks. The female stork accepted the egg and completed incubating it, along with her own.
Both eggs hatched a short time later, and are being raised by the adult storks.
"The successful hatching and rearing is a testament to well developed husbandry techniques developed as part of the Bronx Zoo's long-standing stork breeding program, said Jim Breheny, WCS Executive Vice President and Bronx Zoo Director.
As adults, the storks will be up to four feet tall and have a nearly 7 foot wingspan.
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