Five secretarybird chicks have hatched at Chester Zoo in a landmark breeding breakthrough for the endangered African species.

The arrivals are the first secretarybirds to be successfully bred at the zoo in its 95-year history and have been hailed by conservationists as a major achievement.

The chicks hatched to parents John and Jolene, who were brought to Chester as part of an internationally coordinated effort to protect the future of one of Africa’s rarest birds of prey.

Chester Zoo is one of only a handful of zoos in the UK caring for secretarybirds. There are just 79 of the birds across the entire European conservation breeding programme, with only three other chicks hatching elsewhere during the past 12 months.

Experts hope the breeding techniques developed by the Chester team can now be shared with other conservation zoos to help increase secretarybird populations across Europe.

Secretarybirds are among the world’s most distinctive birds of prey. Unlike eagles and hawks, they spend much of their time hunting on foot, striding across African grasslands on long, thin legs in search of food.

Jamie Cartwright-Stock, a bird keeper behind the breeding success at Chester Zoo, said:

“This is the first time secretarybirds have ever bred at Chester Zoo in our 95-year history. Seeing five healthy chicks hatch in such a short space of time is an incredible achievement for everyone involved.

“Since John and Jolene arrived at the zoo only a few years ago, we’ve spent a considerable amount of time learning everything we can about their courtship behaviours, breeding biology and exactly what conditions they need to reproduce successfully. We’ve refined every aspect of their care in a special behind-the-scenes breeding facility at the zoo to reach this point – it really feels like we’ve reached a major breakthrough.

“We still have so much to learn though, particularly about how secretarybirds are reared and how the youngsters develop. Given how precious those first chicks were, we decided to hand-rear them and document every stage of their development, recording everything we learned so it can now be shared with other conservation zoos and strengthen the breeding programme globally. Since then, John and Jolene have gone on to hatch and successfully rear three more chicks themselves.”

Their scientific name, Sagittarius serpentarius, means “the archer of snakes” and refers to their remarkable ability to hunt and kill venomous snakes by stamping on them.

However, secretarybird numbers have declined dramatically in recent decades as large areas of African grassland have been lost to agriculture and urban development. This has reduced both the birds’ natural habitat and the amount of prey available to them.

It is estimated that as few as 6,700 secretarybirds now remain in the wild.

As their numbers continued to fall, the species was moved to the “endangered” category of the International Union for Conservation of Nature’s Red List in 2020. This is the second-highest level of conservation concern before a species is considered extinct in the wild.

Andrew Owen, Head of Birds at Chester Zoo, added:

“Every chick hatched in conservation zoos is becoming increasingly important for the future of this remarkable species. With five new chicks, we’re playing a leading role in the conservation of these incredible birds.

“Secretarybirds have disappeared from parts of Africa where they were once common, making breeding successes like this more important than ever. By monitoring and sharing everything we learn about these chicks, we can help improve breeding success across the entire safety-net population in zoos. Combined with efforts to protect habitats in the wild, that gives threatened species like the secretarybird the best possible chance of long-term survival.”

The breeding breakthrough comes a year after Chester Zoo opened its Heart of Africa zone, which it describes as the largest zoo habitat of its kind in the UK.

The area is home to more than 50 threatened African species and forms part of the zoo’s wider conservation work to protect wildlife across the continent.

The origins of the secretarybird’s name are widely debated, but it is thought to date back to the 19th century, when its distinctive black crest of feathers was said to resemble a secretary’s quill pen tucked behind the ear.

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