Flamingo chick keen self-starter
A little flamingo chick hatched on its own inside a zoo for the first time in Australasia.
Last week in Auckland Zoo a greater flamingo chick, cared for by parents Cheviot and Neil, hatched in front of a live audience.
Zoo keeper David Crimp said while it was the fifth flamingo chick to be born in Auckland Zoo it was the first time in Australasia a chick had been born and raised by its parents in a zoo.
‘‘It is quite momentous for the Australasian region to have this accomplished,’’ Crimp said.
In 2014 Auckland Zoo also became the first in Australasia to breed greater flamingo chicks, as well as the first zoo in the world to breed from a hand-reared flock.
Because adult flamingos in captivity weren’t very experienced at raising chicks, Auckland Zoo handlers had raised all of the previous four chicks, Crimp said.
This time the egg was with Cheviot and Neil when the hatching began, and for flamingo standards the hatching didn’t take long, he said.
It started on the afternoon of January 8 and was completed before lunch on January 9, he said.
‘‘The shell of a flamingo egg is actually quite thick, thicker than a chicken egg, and it can take them a long time to break through.’’
Generally what happened was that chicks broke through the shell and then rested for 12 to 18 hours before entering the world, he said.
‘‘But he was very keen to get out, and he cut his way away through the egg. He didn’t rest for very long.’’
Since then the hatching parents had been very attentive and the chick was doing well, putting on a good amount of weight and keeping active, he said.
The nesting site was near the public viewing area, so it was fantastic that it happened during public hours, he said.
‘‘People are delighted to see the baby flamingo.’’
It was peak visitation season and there had been at least 20 to 30 people watching the little chick every time he had visited, he said.
Auckland Zoo wouldn’t be able to tell if it was a boy or girl until it was about eight months old, he said.
According to
greater flamingos have long, lean, curved necks and blacktipped bills with a distinctive downward bend. They are found in warm, watery regions and feed on small organisms like plankton, tiny fish and fly larvae.