Breeding and rearing the Oriental white stork Ciconia buyciuna at Shanghai Zoological Gardens

The Oriental white stork Ciconia boyciuna is classified as Endangered by IUCN (IUCN, 1996) and is of highest conservation priority in China. There are c. 2500 storks in the wild and as at 31 December 1995 there were 112.107.56 in captivity. Difficulties in establishing compatible breeding pairs has inhibited breeding in captivity. Because Oriental white storks replace eggs that are lost during the laying period it is possible that the reproductive potential of pairs could be increased by removing the eggs and incubating them artificially. In 1991 a pair of storks at Shanghai Zoological Gardens produced 13 eggs in three clutches, from which nine young were raised. This paper describes the incubation, hand‐rearing, diet and development of Oriental white storks. Information on veterinary treatment is also provided.