‘Male’ vulture Harold shocks park staff by laying an egg

♦ A vulture named Harold is actually female, wildlife park staff discovered, when the bird thought for 20 years to be a male suddenly laid an egg.

Workers at the Eagle Heights Wildlife Foundation in Eynsford, Kent, were “flabbergasted”.

The sanctuary is now looking for a mate for the griffon vulture but staff say out of habit they will still call her Harold.

A spokesman said: “Twenty-odd years ago when we got Harold, he had paperwork telling us he was a male. So we took their word for it, as sexing a bird can be rather stressful.” He added that no chick will be born as the egg is not fertile.