Endangered hooded vulture escapes from Bay Area zoo

OAKLAND, Calif. (AP) — An endangered hooded vulture escaped from a zoo aviary in the San Francisco Bay Area that was destroyed after a massive tree fell on it during a storm. But the bird has remained on zoo grounds, and officials were working Thursday to entice it back.

The male hooded vulture and five other exotic birds, including two pied crows and three superb starlings, flew out from the aviary at the Oakland Zoo on Tuesday amid a wind-packed storm that pummeled the Bay Area, zoo spokeswoman Erin Dogan said.

But the birds stayed on zoo grounds, and a team of at least 12 zoo workers armed with binoculars, nets and crates has already recovered the three starlings, Dogan said.

“They are choosing to stay near the zoo and near the aviary because it seems that’s where they feel safe,” she said.

The team has been working since Tuesday to entice the vulture with dead rats and the crows with mealworms to trap them and bring them back to safety, she said.

All the birds hatched in captivity, and it’s not clear if they would know how to survive outside the zoo, Dogan said.

“These are all birds that were raised in human care, so they haven’t had to fend for themselves,” she said.

None of these birds are birds of prey, and they are not a threat to other animals or people, Dogan said.