Escaped zoo flamingo spotted 17 years after it flew away from Kansas zoo
Flamingo No. 492, AKA ‘Pink Floyd,’ escaped the Sedgwick County Zoo in 2005, got spotted in Texas
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}There’s a zoo flamingo that flew to freedom 17 years ago and that bird is continuing its journey around the U.S.
The flamingo, who has been nicknamed "Pink Floyd," was recently spotted earlier in March at Rhodes Point, which is a cape located in the eastern part Calhoun County, Texas.
Social media posts shared by the Texas Parks and Wildlife agency on Friday, March 25, state the flamingo was seen walking on a strip of land in the cape’s Cox Bay, near Port Lavaca.
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The wildlife agency credited David Foreman for capturing the three-second clip, which shows Pink Floyd strutted by a flock of seabirds, unbothered by the crashing waves.
"Looks like Pink Floyd has returned from the 'dark side of moon'," the Texas Parks and Wildlife’s coastal fisheries team wrote in a Facebook post. "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."
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}A spokesperson for the Texas Parks and Wildlife told Fox News Digital that biologists and anglers have seen Pink Floyd in the Port Lavaca area each spring since 2018.
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Before the flamingo got its nickname, the bird had been known as No. 492 when it was transferred to the Sedgwick County Zoo in Wichita, Kansas, back in 2004, the Associated Press reports.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Pink Floyd and another flamingo reportedly escaped from their enclosures after a storm hit the zoo in June 2005, and they both flew away.
While the other flamingo hasn’t been spotted, Pink Floyd has been seen on multiple occasions in Wisconsin, Louisiana and Texas.
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{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Pink Floyd is considered a Greater Flamingo, which is the largest and most common flamingo species in the world, according to AnimalCorner.org – an animal face database.
The birds are often found in "warm, watery regions on many continents," including the great salt lakes throughout Africa, the Indian subcontinent, the Middle East, Central and South America, and southern Europe.
Flamingo No. 492, AKA "Pink Floyd," escaped the Sedgwick County Zoo in 2005. The bird (not pictured) has been spotted in Wisconsin, Louisiana and Texas. (iStock)
This species can grow up to five feet in height and have an average lifespan that ranges between 30 and 40 years in the wild, AnimalCorner.org reports.
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Flamingos tend to feed on shellfish, insect larvae, small fish, plankton, algae, seeds and plant material – most of which can be found in Cox Bay.
"The Gulf Coast is an excellent climate for flamingos, so Texas is a perfectly fine location for Flamingo 492," a spokesperson for the Sedgwick County Zoo told Fox News Digital.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}"In order to keep flamingos safely housed at the zoo that they call home, it is standard practice to clip an area of feathers on each wing that keeps the flamingos from flying," the spokesperson continued. "In this case, a fluke occurred on a windy day that allowed this flamingo to fly away before his feathers were clipped. Immediate efforts to retrieve the bird were unsuccessful, and an ensuing storm allowed it to take flight and travel south where it has been ever since. At this point Sedgwick County Zoo is happy to let the flamingo enjoy its life in the wild – he’s clearly enjoying it down there."