[an error occurred while processing this directive]
BBC News
watch One-Minute World News
Last Updated: Tuesday, 15 August 2006, 06:57 GMT 07:57 UK
False sighting of missing vulture
Bones - an African White-backed Vulture
Staff believe the five-year-old will be starting to get hungry
A possible sighting of a vulture that went missing from a zoo eight days ago has proved to be a false alarm.

Bones, an African White-backed vulture, escaped through a hole in the netting of his enclosure at Blackbrook Zoological Park, near Leek.

Reports suggested he was spotted in Norfolk but staff are now focusing on a call from Whiston, north Staffordshire, which they received over the weekend.

Bones stands at 30in (76cm) high and has a wing span of about 11ft (3.3m).

Staff believe the five-year-old will now be starting to get hungry.

Malcolm Mycock, curator, said the bird, which is one of a pair, was not aggressive and would not kill its own prey.

Anyone who sees him is advised not to attempt to catch it.


SEE ALSO
African vulture vanishes from zoo
07 Aug 06 |  Staffordshire

RELATED INTERNET LINKS
The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites



FEATURES, VIEWS, ANALYSIS
Has China's housing bubble burst?
How the world's oldest clove tree defied an empire
Why Royal Ballet principal Sergei Polunin quit

PRODUCTS & SERVICES

Americas Africa Europe Middle East South Asia Asia Pacific