Young white storks in the Heidelberg Zoo: Provision for the big flight!

Young white storks in the Heidelberg Zoo: Provision for the big flight!

In the Heidelberg Zoo, the berry time for the white storks is currently announced. Helmut Stein, the region's stork officer, ensures that the small beauties get suitable black detection rings on their legs. The zoo houses almost 40 stork couples who feel comfortable and breed here. Joshua Förg, the bird curator of the zoo, highlights the optimal conditions that enable the storks to grow up healthy. Even the heavy rain did not throw the chicks off track; They are well nourished and keep them brave.

The rings that are created to the young storks have an important task. They help to collect valuable information about the hike, the nesting places and the development of the stork population. Interested nature lovers can read the ring numbers and report to www.euring.org . A look into the past shows that the situation of the white storks was critical in the 1970s. But today there is reason to be happy: Fortunately, the stocks have recovered.

the white stork census and its meaning

Another important aspect that should be mentioned in connection with the white storks is the 8th International Weißstork-Zensus, which was organized by NABU in 2024. Since 1994, this census has been carried out every ten years to grasp the number of breeding pairs. Birdlife partner organizations, NGOs, scientific institutes and experts work hand in hand to collect the data and to capture them centrally. This is of great importance to identify areas in which the storks particularly use or need additional protection. Currently, white storks in over 50 countries in Europe, North Africa and Asia, such as NABU report.

The first intermediate stands of the 8th international white stork counting are already being developed. So far, results from 40 out of 55 participating countries have been available. These include prominent countries such as Ukraine, Turkey, Libya and Germany. While some countries have already reported preliminary results, the evaluation in other countries will continue until 2025. Special counts also take place in France and Spain. The good news is that a positive population trend is expected from the past white storklens. There is currently an increase to around 330,000 breeding pairs. The final results for this are to be published by autumn 2025, as also explained nabu.

The combination of targeted promotion and comprehensive census work shows that a lot is happening in the white storks. And that is not only for the birds themselves, but also for the people in the region of enormous importance!