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| Common Name: | Darwin's rhea | Family: | Rheidae |
| Latin Name: | Pterocnemia pennata | Diet: | Herbivore |
| Type: | Bird | Habitat: | Grasslands |
| Native To: | South America | Social Unit: | Group |
| IUCN Red List Status: | Near Threatened |
Darwin’s Rheas at Edinburgh Zoo
Edinburgh Zoo has four Darwin’s rheas: two males, one hatched in April 2011 and one is May 2011, along with two females, both hatched in April 2011. They arrived at Edinburgh Zoo in October 2011 from France
Our Darwin’s rheas receive a daily diet of ostrich pellet and greens. They also spend a lot of time grazing the grass in their paddock.
It is the male Darwin’s rhea that incubates the eggs, and he becomes very protective of his nest site and the paddock during the breeding season!
Darwin’s rheas are very difficult to breed in captivity. Although our pair has bred and laid viable eggs, sadly no chicks have survived so far. Edinburgh Zoo’s keepers are working closely with colleagues in other zoos to increase husbandry knowledge for the species.
Where it can be found at Edinburgh Zoo
The Darwin’s rheas can be found in the grassy paddock just up the hill from the flamingo enclosure.
Darwin’s Rheas in the Wild
Darwin’s rheas (Pterocnemia pennata) are mostly found in the open grasslands of Patagonia and the Andean plateaus of South America. They inhabit steppes, shrubland, shrub-steppe and mallines (successional wetlands with bog, meadows and ponds) throughout Argentina, Bolivia, Chile and Peru.
Darwin’s rheas are ratites, which are a group of flightless birds that includes the African Ostrich, the Australian Emu, Cassowaries, and Kiwis.
Darwin’s rheas have brown and white spotted plumage and stand about 90 – 100 cm (35 – 39 inches) tall. Their wings are larger than those of some other ratites. Darwin’s rheas use their wings to balance themselves when they are running, sometimes reaching speeds of up to 60 km/h (37 mph)!
Outside of the breeding season, when the males become quite aggressive, this species is quite sociable, living in groups of 5 – 30 birds.
Because of their rapidly declining numbers in the wild, Darwin’s rheas have been classified by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) as Near Threatened, meaning that they will likely qualify for a threatened category in the near future. Some of the major threats to this species include hunting, egg-collecting and persecution by human populations, as well as habitat destruction due to farming and conversion of land for cattle grazing.
IUCN Red List category: Near Threatened
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