IN THE PINK: Fugitive Flamingo Pink Floyd Thriving After 17 Years On The Run
This is the moment Pink Floyd the fugitive flamingo visits the Texan coast after escaping from a zoo in Kansas in 2005.
The flamingo was spotted at Rhodes Point, in Cox Bay, located in Calhoun County, in the US state of Texas, earlier this month.
Texas Parks and Wildlife Department – Coastal Fisheries said on 26th March: “Looks like Pink Floyd has returned from the ‘dark side the of moon’! Spotted at Rhodes Point in Cox Bay near Port Lavaca by David Foreman on March 10.
“Pink Floyd is a local Texas flamingo that escaped a Kansas zoo in 2005 and has been seen on the Texas coast for several years.”
According to officials, the flamingo is known as Number 492, as displayed on its tag, and is one of two escaped African flamingos.
The large birds fled from Sedgwick County Zoo, in the city of Wichita, in Kansas, during a storm on 27th June 2005. They separated shortly after escaping from the animal park.
Pink Floyd, otherwise known as Number 492, headed south towards the Gulf Coast, while its runaway companion went north and has not been seen since its escape.
The zoo pointed out that the birds’ feathers had not been clipped in some years and they are able to fly.
The zoo also said that staff have never tried to capture the two birds since their escape, as attempts would probably distress the flamingos and disturb local wildlife.
According to the news site UPI, Coastal Fisheries incorrectly referred to Number 492 as Pink Floyd, which actually escaped from its owner in Utah and was repeatedly seen on the Gulf Coast until 2005, when the two birds escaped from the Kansas zoo.
There are two species of Old World flamingo – the Greater flamingo (Phoenicopterus roseus) and the Lesser flamingo (Phoeniconaias minor).
The former is widespread. However, the latter is categorised as ‘near-threatened’ by the International Union for Conservation of Nature, due to its declining population and low number of breeding sites, some of which are threatened by human activities.
In addition to Africa, the former is found in the Indian subcontinent, the Middle East, and in southern Europe, whereas the latter also occurs in north-western India.
Most of the plumage of both species is is pinkish-white in colour.
In addition to the Old World flamingos, there are four species of New World flamingo.
