No. 492 Is Still on the Run 17 Years Later

On a windy day in Wichita, Kan., in 2005, No. 492 made its escape.

The employees at Sedgwick County Zoo had forgotten to clip the African flamingo’s wings, a painless little bit of upkeep that retains the beloved birds from flying away into the harmful world exterior.

The zoo was unable to retrieve the chook earlier than it flew away from Kansas, dealing with lengthy odds for survival in a area of the nation with no different flamingos and few environments suited to its wants.

David Foreman, a machinist and fishing information in Edna, Texas, didn’t know any of this when he and a pal set out on a ship in Port Lavaca on March 10 this 12 months.

His clients typically declare to see flamingos, mistaking them for the smaller-but-also-pink roseate spoonbills which can be frequent within the Gulf Coast. He patiently explains to them that, no, there aren’t any flamingos in Texas. He has informed a whole lot of individuals this.

However on at the present time he couldn’t imagine his eyes. There it was, a tall, elegant chook standing on one leg as flamingos typically do. He zoomed his telephone’s digital camera in so far as it may go, looking for proof of what appeared unbelievable.

“My mind was telling me, ‘No approach you’re a flamingo,’ however my eyes have been telling me, ‘That’s what it’s, there’s no mistaking it,’” mentioned Mr. Foreman, who grew up in a chook sanctuary.

He must replace his spiel, he thought.

“It’s virtually like nature’s approach of placing me in my place,” Mr. Foreman mentioned. “Mr. Is aware of-Every thing thinks there’s no flamingos in Texas? Take a look at this.”

Wildlife officers in Texas mentioned it was certainly No. 492. It was so named as a result of considered one of its legs has worn a tag with that quantity because it arrived on the zoo from Tanzania in 2003. (The officers in Texas have since nicknamed it Pink Floyd.)

The boaters have been too far-off to see the tag. However Julie Hagen, a social media specialist with the Texas Parks and Wildlife Division, mentioned No. 492 was noticed in the identical space and through the identical time of 12 months that it’s been noticed in previous years.

“We’ve got no motive to imagine that it’s another flamingo,” she mentioned.

It served as affirmation that No. 492, estimated to be about 20 years previous, continues to be persevering regardless of placing out by itself.

Its journey would match snugly right into a Pixar film script.

No. 492 was considered one of 40 flamingos to reach on the Kansas zoo in 2003. Many of the birds have been most likely round 3 years previous, Scott Newland, the curator of birds on the zoo, mentioned in an interview in 2018.

He described feather clipping, the upkeep that retains the birds grounded, as painless, “no totally different than you or I getting a haircut.” It should be repeated annually as birds molt their feathers and develop new ones.

However in June 2005, employees members missed the indicators that No. 492’s wings wanted to be clipped, and the chook flew away to a drainage canal in Wichita together with one other flamingo, No. 347.

On July 4 — critically, on Independence Day — the birds flew away from Wichita for good, No. 492 heading south and No. 347 heading north.

No. 347 was by no means seen once more, and certain didn’t survive the winter. No. 492, although, discovered an acceptable setting in Texas, with its shallow, salty wetlands, excessive temperatures year-round and ample meals sources.

It even met a longtime companion: A Caribbean flamingo which will have blown north into the Gulf throughout a tropical storm was noticed with No. 492 as early as 2006, however they haven’t been seen collectively since 2013.

“Despite the fact that they’re two totally different species, they’re sufficient alike that they might have been more than pleased to see one another,” Mr. Newland mentioned in 2018. “They’re two lonely birds in type of a international habitat. They’re not imagined to be there, so that they have stayed collectively as a result of there’s a bond.”

Flamingos within the wild can dwell into their 40s. Predators embody foxes and bobcats, however since flamingos pose little risk to people and aren’t thought-about sport birds, No. 492 probably doesn’t have to fret about hunters.

Ms. Hagen mentioned No. 492 has been noticed virtually yearly, sometimes within the spring, ever because it discovered its technique to Texas. It’s unclear if the flamingo has made Texas its everlasting house, or if the state is a part of a migration sample that hasn’t but been found.

Mr. Foreman first posted his video to his personal Fb and Instagram pages, and his associates alerted him to No. 492’s again story and the way uncommon the sighting was. It was “positively a second to recollect,” he mentioned.

“A flamingo in South Texas,” he mentioned. “Wow. Who would’ve thought.”