meet the animals

Meet one of our two vultures, Bart! Bart is a black vulture and has been in our care since 2013. Bart originally came to us for a wing injury that was assumed to be an injury caused by a car strike. During a routine veterinary exam, radiographs revealed that there were bullets as well as pellets in Bart’s injured wing. Although it is likely that Bart was also hit by a car, it was discovered that he was also shot. Sometimes, the assumption is made that vultures hunt live prey, so people will shoot at them as a means to scare vultures from their animals. This is not the case, though, as vultures are scavengers and exclusively feed on carrion or dead animals. Vultures are vital to our ecosystem, cleaning up the landscape and reducing the spread of disease. Bart and his enclosure mate, Tuvu, are fed daily around 3 pm and brilliantly showcase the fast and efficient feeders that vultures are.