On February 25, 2025, a king vulture chick hatched at the Bronx Zoo in New York. Zookeepers are hand-raising the chick using a puppet to prevent human imprinting. This rare birth helps preserve valuable genetics and supports long-term conservation.

The Bronx Zoo in New York announced the first king vulture chick to hatch at the facility in three decades is being hand-raised using a puppet made to look like a mother vulture.