Raptor Conservancy of Virginia
Review by Kent Knowles, President
April 2008
Designed for persons keeping captive raptors for program or exhibit, this exceptionally complete and helpful reference contains a wealth of essential information for expert and novice alike. Raptors in Cap-tivity - Guidelines for Care and Management thoroughly explores such key topics as housing, diet, selec-tion of appropriate raptors, handling, medical care and permits. Lori Arent, long the chief of raptor reha-bilitation at the Raptor Center of the University of Minnesota, focuses her extensive experience and knowledge in a reader friendly way to provide people who keep captive raptors for education purposes with an extraordinary reference and set of guidelines on education raptor care and maintenance. The book also contains detailed and comprehensive tables and drawings, as well as many helpful pictures. Although Raptors in Captivity is not primarily intended to provide guidance for raptor rehabilitators or captive breeders, much of the information in this book should be of much assistance in those areas also. This book is an outstanding source of guidance in maintaining captive raptors, and should be an invalu-able tool for every person interested in this area.
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Wildlife Rehabilitation Bulletin published by the National Wildlife Rehabilitators Association Journal
Review by Laurel Degernes, DVM
Volume 25, No. 2, Pages 46,47
Fall 2007
This book is long-anticipated and comprehensive update of the first edition, Care and Management of Captive Raptors by Lori Arent and Mark Martell in 1996. While the book is written at a level appropriate for introducing novices to captive raptor management, experienced individuals will also benefit from the wealth of information.
The 10 chapters are very well-organized, indexed, and illustrated with photographs and line drawings. A set of five appendices provide contact information for federal and state wildlife permit offices, seven pages of photographs of different enclosure and perch designs from nine centers, and options and sources for suppliers of food and vitamin supplements, handling and training equipment, and maintenance and medical supplies.
The first chapter includes a discussion of federal and state permits, required for any individual or organi-zation that plans to maintain native North American raptor species in captivity. The chapter on selecting a raptor for an education program summarizes a large amount of information about these species, including a brief overview of natural history, handling and husbandry characteristics, and medical considerations i.e., susceptibility to certain diseases such as aspergillosis, avian malaria, or West Nile virus). A set of symbols and stars is provided for dietary preferences, suitability for use as display and/or program birds, recommended level of experience necessary to work with these birds, and an overall rating for captive management. A list of the Steady Six species most suitable for novices and good all around program birds (garnering an five-star rating) is also provided.
The chapter on diets includes useful information on suitable and non-suitable food options, food delivery and storage, and managing eating problems. Recommended food types and daily rations for the raptor species covered are summarized in a table. The chapter on housing is one of the more extensive chapters in the book, that reflects the importance of this issue. This well-illustrated chapter covers structural con-siderations including building materials, cage sizes, escape and predator proofing supplemental heat, shel-ter boxes, and perch designs and placement. When it comes to raptors, the one size fits all approach to perches can lead to serious foot problems, but fortunately, much of the guesswork for appropriate size and types of perches is eliminated with the extensive tables of species-specific information. The chapter also includes sections on tethering captive raptors, and common injuries associated with improper housing, such a broken feathers, bumble-foot, and soft tissue wounds.
The excellent line drawings in the equipment chapter illustrate a wide range of jesse and anklet styles. Detailed instructions are sufficient for making equipment using readily available supplies. Contact infor-mation for equipment suppliers is also provided, for the less adventurous. The maintenance chapter in-cludes examples of forms and important guidelines for routine record keeping. Descriptions of capture and handling techniques are described and illustrated, including common examination and grooming pro-cedures (i.e., trimming talons and beaks). There is also an excellent overview of feather anatomy, com-mon problems, and step-by-step guideline for feather imping. The strengths of the medical care chapter are the sections devoted to captive management problems such as soft tissue trauma, bumblefoot, frost-bite, heat stroke, nutritional problems, and parasitology. Common infectious bacterial, viral, and fungal diseases are briefly covered, but it is important to note that this book does not suffice as a stand-alone re-source for diagnosing and treating diseases in captive raptors. A licensed wildlife veterinarian should al-ways be consulted for diagnosis and treatment of captive raptors.
The chapter on training includes behavioral training methods for both the handler and program bird (i.e., motivation, reinforcement, cues, and bridges). The next chapter takes a very practical approach to trans-porting raptors, including different styles of carriers and crates for local programs, as well as shipping crates for airline transportation (tables are included that give size recommendations for different species). Useful training and travel tips are discussed, as well as travel hazards to avoid. The final chapter covers how to recover a lost bird. Housing and equipment recommendations are provided to try to prevent loss, but a number of options are provided to locate and recover an escaped bird.
The decades of collective knowledge and experience of the author and colleagues at The Raptor Center and in other organizations, is complied into an organized and comprehensive book on the subject of cap-tive management of raptors. Any individual or organization that is planning to start a raptor education program will be well-advised to obtain this book and do their homework in advance. In addition, this book has a lot of practical tips and information for more seasoned raptor educators.
This is a great book and an essential library addition for any individual or organization that manages cap-tive raptors for display and/or education programs. |
