A very rare species in zoos worldwide, the African open-billed storks at the Wild Animal Park produced the first-ever chick of this species in a zoo, which hatched on June 8, 1994. The parents successfully raised the chick in the Park's walk-through entrance aviary, high up in a fig tree they chose as their nesting site.

The harpy eagle, a species originally found from southern Mexico to northern Argentina, was in need of conservation help—its numbers were declining because of hunting and deforestation. The Peregrine Fund began a program to breed the birds for eventual release to their native habitat in 1989, and the San Diego Zoo joined the effort in 1991 with a breeding pair of the eagles. They produced one chick in 1992, but unfortunately it died before nine days of age. In 1994, the adult pair reproduced again, and the egg was taken to the Zoo's Avian Propagation Center for incubation and hand raising. The male chick hatched and thrived, and keepers used a harpy eagle hand puppet to feed and care for the chick, the same technique that had worked so well with California condors. This chick made avian history by being the first harpy eaglet successfully hatched and raised in a zoo in North America.

A flock of 75 rainbow lorikeets took up residence in a newly renovated walk-through aviary at the Wild Animal Park called Lorikeet Landing. Visitors could enter a patio in the aviary surrounded by lush landscaping, while the brightly colored birds flitted, flew, and perched around them. Guests could also offer the birds cups of nectar, which the bold, brush-tongued little birds were more than happy to gobble up—perching on shoulders, arms, hands, and even heads to do it!

1994

Expansion 1987 - 1996

Some fine feathered friends made their debut in 1994: the first harpy eagle chick to hatch in North America (right, top); the first African open-billed stork chick to hatch in a zoo anywhere (above); and a flock of rainbow lorikeets at Lorikeet Landing (right, bottom).

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