Baltimore Ravens Rise and Conquer

Get to know Rise and Conquer, our two Ravens who live at The Maryland Zoo in Baltimore! Rise and Conquer, along with over 65 other animal ambassadors, live at the Animal Embassy and travel all throughout Maryland. Rise and Conquer love going to Ravens gamedays, where you can see them before kickoff on RavensWalk or on the sidelines during games. They love meeting Ravens fans at the Zoo, but also like to travel to schools and even the beach!

Rise and Conquer are brothers who hatched from the same clutch on April 16, 2009 in Alabama.

The birds arrived at The Maryland Zoo together in June of 2009. They were raised at by members of the Maryland Zoo staff at their homes for several weeks so that the birds could be hand fed every few hours and begin their training. Because ravens can easily bond with only one person when they are young, the Zoo was careful to keep rotating their housing schedule. They needed to recognize and relate to several handlers and easily accept changes in their environments.

Rise and Conquer live at the Animal Embassy; a division of the Zoo's Animal Department, which houses and travels over 65 Animal Ambassadors. Once they moved into the Animal Embassy full time, they began a training program and acclimation process common for our Ambassadors. Because they are such intelligent birds by nature, the Zoo is, to this day, constantly challenged to keep them engaged and enriched.

Animal Ambassadors travel to support Maryland Zoo educational and promotional missions. This includes school visits, as well as local and national media appearances. Rise and Conquer have attended each Ravens home game since 2009 and have made many special appearances at Ravens events. They also make regular appearances on Zoo grounds to visit with Ravens fans throughout the year.

Conquer is a bolder bird, but also more interested in his handlers. He is always the first one to come for food. Rise is the more cautious of the two brothers. He will usually only go up to a new object or food item once Conquer has checked it out.

Quick Facts:

• The birds are extremely intelligent and inquisitive. 
• They are very interested in touching and tearing objects with their strong, sharp beaks. 
• They are able to notice the smallest of changes in their environments, which is why we are constantly moving them around so that they can easily acclimate to change. 
• Corvids have the ability to mimic sound and have been taught to speak, though they do not have the range of parrots. 
• Our ravens are from Africa; the ownership of North American common ravens is prohibited by law.
• Ravens are some of the most intelligent birds in the world, and thought by some to be on par with apes.
• Ravens have the ability to differentiate between individuals.   
• Ravens "cache" (hide) their food and come back for it later. Even though they have a steady supply of food at The Maryland Zoo, they still exhibit this behavior. They are scavengers by nature and hiding food ensures they will not go hungry.