Oxpecker Research Facility unveiled at Mokopane
Red-billed Oxpecker
The National Zoological Gardens of South Africa’s Mokopane Centre unveiled its custom-designed oxpecker facility on Friday 18th July 2008. This facility is for the research of Red-billed Oxpeckers with the aim of breeding and relocating these endangered birds to areas throughout South Africa.
In the 1900’s oxpecker numbers were drastically reduced as a result of the use of dips to treat livestock against tick infestations. As a result, many oxpeckers, whose main source of food is ticks, were killed by the poison. Since that time, awareness has been created of more oxpecker-friendly cattle dips. This has helped to restore the symbiotic relationship that previously existed between the oxpeckers and the cattle that it rids of ticks. In the wild, oxpeckers rid many large antelope of ticks. Continued
Article by: SA Travel News Editor
