CNN
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On a stormy Independence Day in Wichita, Kansas, in 2005, flamingo No. 492 went rogue. The hen was noticed round 600 miles away Monday – practically 17 years later – by fishing information and angler David Foreman, in line with the Texas Parks & Wildlife division.
Certainly one of 40 flamingos introduced from Tanzania, Africa, to Kansas’ Sedgwick County Zoo in 2003, No. 492 arrived when it was 2 or 3 years previous, in line with Jennica King and Anne Heitman, the zoo’s director of strategic communications and curator of birds, respectively.
A few years later, on July 2, zookeepers went to clip the flamingos’ feathers, a “fully painless” course of that’s just like people getting a haircut, Heitman stated. Throughout that course of, a “large gust of wind got here up,” and a number of other birds that hadn’t but had their feathers clipped have been capable of fly away, King stated.
Birds change their feathers wherever from twice per yr to each one or two years throughout a cycle referred to as molting, and keepers reduce the brand new feathers as soon as they’re accomplished rising, Heitman stated. Feather clipping is a typical and short-term type of flight restriction used not solely by zoos, but in addition individuals who have pet birds and don’t need the birds to have their full flight potential.
Many of the birds circled the zoo, then returned. However two – No. 492 and its companion, No. 347 – didn’t. They ended up in a grassy, marshy flood drainage space about 100 or 200 yards away from the zoo. The 2 flamingos spent a few days there, dodging and fleeing from zookeepers who frantically tried to get shut sufficient to retrieve them.
A giant thunderstorm hit July 4, sending the 2 decided flamingos on their approach for good. No. 347 went north and was noticed as soon as in Minnesota, then by no means once more, King stated.
However the South is the place No. 492 has appeared to seek out its house, because it has been noticed yearly for the previous 5 years on the Gulf Coast of Texas, stated Julie Hagan, social media specialist for the coastal fisheries division of Texas Parks & Wildlife. The division has nicknamed No. 492 “Pink Floyd.”
Within the video Foreman shared with the Texas division, Pink Floyd’s identifiable yellow band with “492” printed on it isn’t seen, Hagan stated. However Pink Floyd is the one flamingo the division or fishers have seen for a number of consecutive springs, in order that they’re assured the flamingo noticed Monday is No. 492 – particularly since flamingos aren’t native to North America.
In Northern Africa, flamingos of Pink Floyd’s sort – “better flamingos” – reside on salt lakes, so the salt water and delicate local weather of the sunny Gulf Coast are good for him, King and Heitman stated.
And “there’s loads of meals for him to eat there,” King added. Larger flamingos are filter feeders, sifting small crops, together with tiny plankton and algae, and little animals – similar to brine shrimp – out of the water. Brine shrimp are what provides flamingos their pink colour.
“We imagine he truly strikes round and follows meals sources, which is why No. 492 is barely sighted sometimes,” Heitman stated. “Because the meals sources ebb and circulation, (flamingos) observe them round. So he’s most likely touring to different areas, simply the place individuals aren’t most likely seeing him. However he ought to be capable of discover the kinds of meals that he wants down there.”
Sedgwick County Zoo has taken the adage “For those who adore it, let it go” to coronary heart. “As soon as it flew away and was noticed in Texas, we have been definitely completely happy to listen to that it was OK,” King stated. “Each time we hear of it being noticed each couple of years, we’re nonetheless happy that he’s doing nicely.”
“We determined very early on, as soon as he flew all the way down to Texas, that we might not make any efforts that might doubtlessly hurt him or hurt the wildlife round him,” King added. “His presence down there’s not hurting the ecosystem or something, and he’s not a nuisance. Flamingos are very non-aggressive birds.”
Flamingos within the wild can reside as much as 40 years previous, whereas flamingos beneath human care can reside for much longer. The oldest flamingo the Sedgwick County Zoo has had lived to age 60.
Solely about 20 years previous, Pink Floyd has a few years forward of him, King stated. In addition to any potential extreme storms, “actually the one threats to him down there could be people, if individuals attempt to get too shut, attempt to seize him or hurt him indirectly,” she added.
For those who see Pink Floyd, you may look and take pictures, however maintain your distance, King and Heitman stated.
“We don’t need him feeling threatened and to finish up harming himself or definitely have another person hurt him,” King added.