Ostriches barter eggs for survival

THE current edition of Zoo Matters has an interesting item on ostriches. Dublin Zoo’s cock and six hens share a communal nest each year, as is the custom with these flightless birds. Ostriches are used to a warm climate. 

Our Irish weather this summer didn’t suit them; the hens laid but the eggs failed to hatch. Then, team leader Helen Clarke-Bennett and her colleagues noticed something strange; eggs were disappearing from the nest.

When night-vision cameras were installed, the culprits were caught in the act; local badgers had turned to burglary. A badger would approach the unattended nest and select an egg. Walking backwards, it would roll the egg up an incline and release it repeatedly. Eventually, running down the slope, the egg would break against a hard surface, yielding its content to the thief. Tell-tale egg remains were found close to a badger set near the zoo.