Houston Zoo Breeding Facility
Like 0 Dislike 0 Published on 8 Oct 2012
Video provided by the Houston Zoo Attwater's Prairie Chicken Recovery Program.
Through a partnership with NASA's Johnson Space Center, the Houston Zoo has an off-grounds breeding facility for the Attwater's Prairie Chickens that provides a spacious, quiet environment filled with tall prairie grasses which are optimal for breeding. The 2008 breeding season saw the largest number of birds released into the wild ever in one season; an amazing 370 birds. The Houston Zoo had continued breeding success in 2009 by hatching and raising 80 chicks, to be released or placed in the breeding program, for the second year in a row. It is believed that success will be achieved by a continued increase of the number of captive-bred birds being released, working to help the release birds successfully raise chicks in the wild, and expanding the number of release sites in the reintroduction program.