In Mykolaiv zoo more than 10 years in the department of ornithology there is a pair of tropical birds, endemics of South Australia, cape barren goose. For a long time birds made laying, but the chicks did not appear. Finally, in January of this year, a pair hatched their firstborn, and in early March – the second chick. The eggs were incubated under their parents, but in the future the chicks were artificially grown. Since this cape barren goose adheres exclusively to vegetarian food, the microgreen, grown in the department, was used to feed the chicks. And with the presence of green vegetation on the territory of the zoo for kids, who like to eat the green mass, it is prepared and they eat it with pleasure.
The most experienced supervisor of the department is appointed to grow the juvenile. For many years, a "bird's mother" is a woman with 33 years of work experience – Mazunina Lyubov Anatolievna. In the history of our zoo – this is the first case of breeding cape barren goose.
The peculiarity of this bird is the ability to drink salt or brackish water, which allows it to stay on remote islands for a whole year. They are met closer to the shore and do not always go to the water, even if there is a danger.
Couples make up for life, live in colonies of up to 300 birds. Nests are usually built on the ground.
This species remains one of the most rare in the world of goose, which is not widely spread.