227 HUSBANDRY AND RESEARCH

were exhausted by the time they were caught. The legs of the captured flamingos were im- mediately folded at the femoro-tibiotarsal joints and at the hock joints (the joints between the tibiotarsus and the tarsometatarsus). The birds were put with their legs in this position into small bags. They were transported in these bags for several hours. When taken out of the bags, the legs of most of the birds were paralysed, a few could walk short distances but eventually fell and could not rise again, and some were already dead. Although the affected birds could not walk, they were able to flap their wings and they were feeding for a few days.

The legs of the affected flamingos were mas- saged and the birds were supported on slings or suspended in luke-warm water, but all attempts to save them were unsuccessful. At postmortem, extensive lesions were found and it is unlikely that any of the birds would ever have recovered. Macroscopic Findings : There were extensive haemorrhages in the region of the hock and in the musculature ofthe thighs and flanks. Petechiae were also noted in the myocardium. Some of the muscle groups of the thighs and flanks had a dull greyish appearance. Small necrotic foci were also found in the myocardium of some of the birds. It was noted that the legs of flamingos have a relatively poor blood supply, especially from the hock downwards. Microscopic Findings : Sections of the affected skeletal muscles showed the following character- istics: the muscle fibres had lost their striated appearance and were changed into a homogenous mass, which stained a deep pink with the HE

staining method. Certain muscle fibres were ruptured. Hyperaemia and extensive haemor- rhages could be seen in certain parts. Some of the nuclei of the muscle cells were normal but others had undergone pyknosis and karyorhexis. There was a slight infiltration of neutrophiles. Macro- phages and a few eosinophiles were also present.

Over-exertion, resulting in the accumulation of lactic acid when the legs were restrained could have predisposed the development of muscle necrosis. Necrosis of the muscles of the thighs and flanks manifested itself in the form of leg paralysis. Necrosis of the myocardium and trauma could have been responsible for the few peracute deaths.

When flamingos are chased at night, some of the birds try to run into deep water rather than fly away. In their natural state they do not often run and they should not be forced to do so.

When the legs of flamingos are kept in a folded position for long periods, circulatory disturbances should be expected. The use of ‘transport bags’ for the transportation of flamingos is therefore not recommended. It may be advisable to support flamingos in suitable slings during transportation in order to prevent them from falling.

L I T E R A T U R E F A I R L I E , G . (1964): Myopathy in a roebuck. Vet. Rec., 76: 1147-1148.

M. and HARTHOORN, A. M. (1964): Muscular dystrophy in wild Hunter’s antelope. E. A j . Wildl. 3.,

Y O U N G , E . (1966): Muscle necrosis in captive Red hartebeeste, Alcelaphus buselaphus. J. S. Afr. Vet. Med.

JARRETT, W. H . F . , JENNINGS, F. W., MURRAY,

2: 158-159.

Ass., 37 (1).

Hand-rearing the Andean condor Vultur gryphus

a t Amsterdam Zoo D . D E K K E R Biologist, Natura Artis Magistra, Amsterdam, Netherlands

In the spring of 1965 two eggs were laid by the pair of Andean condors Vzrlturgryphus at Amster- dam Zoo. As the first egg was broken by the parent birds, the second egg (laid in the third week

of April) was removed to be incubated by two domestic Silky hens. Each sat on the egg for a period of 30 days. After an incubation period of 61 days, the egg hatched. The young bird was

228 HUSBANDRY AND RESEARCH

identified as a female since she did not have a crest on her beak. She was immediately put in a wooden box under a lamp. The temperature under the lamp was about 30 '~ . The high temperature is necessary to keep the bird active during the first two weeks of its life.

Since condor chicks are fed by their parents with regurgitated food, we decided to give the hand- reared chick predigested food. A pancreas prepar- ation called Cotazym (Organon, Oss, Nether- lands) was dissolved in water (one tablet in 250 cc). Minced meat, liver and the intestines of young mice were put in this solution containing digestive enzymes and the mixture kept at a temperature of 30"c for one night, The following morning it was ready to be fed, at the same temperature. Every day a multivitamin and mineral supplement was added. This contained a high proportion of Vitamins A and D and of calcium, since the chick was kept indoors until it was one month old. T o each kilo of food was

added Vitamin A IO,OOO i.u., Vitamin D, 2,000 i.u. and calcium 0.5 per cent. The calcium was given in lactate form. For the first two weeks the chick was fed six times daily, taking 200 g of food in all. When it was 14 days old it weighed 0.5 kg. From then on its weight increase was constant, and averaged I kg in 10 days. When it was two months old it weighed 5.6 kg. By this time it was receiving 0.75 kg of food daily, including whole mice and rats, just a few days old. At the age of two months we also started to feed it fresh meat and whole adult rats and mice. From two months to six months the young condor received one Cotazym pill, put in a piece of meat, daily.

At four months the condor made its first attempts to fly. By six months it was fully feathered. The feathers were a dull brown in colour. Until it was more than a year old the keeper had to hand-feed it, otherwise it did not eat sufficient food.

Notes on albino reptiles and amphibians at Stein hart Aqua r i u m K. H. S W I T A K Herpetologist, Steinhart Aquarium, California Academy of Sciences, San Francisco, California, USA

For the past 3 years, Steinhart Aquarium has specialised in the exhibition of albino reptiles and amphibians. In May 1966 the collection contained two species of albino amphibians and three species of albino reptiles. All the specimens are on public display and each is exhibited with a normally pigmented form of the same species. The King snake and Gopher snake exhibits contain not only the albino and normal coloured variety, but also the striped form.

Except for the Yellow-legged frog Rana b. boylei, which has pink eyes but numerous blotches of dark pigmentation scattered throughout the body, all the specimens can be considered true albinos. Each has pink eyes, white to light yellow

body colouring and a faded pink pattern, blotched in the Gopher snake, banded in the King snake, and irregularly blotched in the bull frog. The albino specimens exhibited are the bull frog Rana cutesbeiena (adult from Cloverdale, California), one Yellow-legged frog Rana b. boylei (subadult, raised from a tadpole at Steinhart, collected at Portola Valley, California), two Pacific Gopher snakes Pituophis c. catenifer (adult, one from San Rafael and one from San Leandro, California), one California King snake Lampropeltis getidus californiae (76 cm long, from Madera, California), and one Northern Pacific rattlesnake Crotalus viridk oreganus (60 cm long from Conn Dam, east of St Helena, California).