Last of the flamingos

There is one flamingo at the Adelaide Zoo in Australia. It is the last of the flamingos.

The Adelaide Zoo was established in 1883 and the flamingo exhibit was added in 1885 with 17 Greater Flamingos (Phoenicopterus roseus). Despite renovations at the zoo, the flamingo exhibit—an enclosure with a pond and bamboo trees—has remained in its original position.

The Greater Flamingo is found in parts of Africa, southern Asia, and southern Europe in shallow coastal lagoons with salt water. It is the largest species of flamingo, averaging 110-150 centimetres (43-60 inches) tall and weighing 204 kilograms (450 pounds). Its feathers are pinkish-white and it has a pink bill with a black tip. Carotenoid pigments in the organisms they feed on give them the pink colour. Their average life span in captivity is over 60 years.

I have been to Lake Nakuru in Kenya and seen masses of Greater Famingos—a veritable pink sea of them. It was a magnificent sight.

For the flamingos in Adelaide, the capital of South Australia, the drought of 1915 resulted in many deaths. But a famous flamingo at the zoo, called Greater, or Flamingo 1, outlived them. He was an adult when he arrived at the zoo in 1933.

In 1948 a Chilean flamingo was introduced into the zoo. His name was Chilli. The Chilean flamingo (Phoenicopterus chilensis) is closely related to the Greater Flamingo, but is smaller at 110-130 centimetres (43-51 inches) tall. It comes from South America, from Ecuador and Peru to Chile and Argentina. Its feathers are pinker than the Greater Flamingo’s plumage.

For over twenty years the flamingos at Adelaide Zoo could walk outside their exhibit and mingle with the general public. But in 2008, when Greater was 77 years old, zookeeper Charlie Romer found it laying distressed on the footpath outside its enclosure, during public visiting hours, bleeding from its beak and one eye. The bird was taken to the animal hospital within the zoo where the vet, David Schulz, diagnosed a depressed fracture of the skull. He warmed up the brid and gave it fluids and anti-inflammatories. Police questioned four men about an alleged attack on Greater – two 17-year-olds, an 18-year old and a 19-year old. They were arrested and charged, but there was not enough evidence for a conviction. To everyone’s amazement, Greater responded well to treatment, but it was not allowed to walk outside its enclosure any more. By this time there was only Greater and Chilli in the zoo, so they remained together in their enclosure.

In January 2014 Greater died at the age of 83 years. It was believed to have been the oldest flamingo in the world. Greater had arthritis and was in ill health when the zookeepers decided to peacefully put him to sleep.

Now there is only Chilli. Chilli has lost his companion of 65 years, and Chilli is the last of the flamingos. Not only is Chilli the last of the flamingos at Adelaide Zoo, he is also the last of the flamingos in Australia. The zoo is unable to introduce another flamingo to keep Chilli company because there is currently a ban on their importation to other countries.

Instead of companionship the aging Chilli now has a mirror by the pond so that he thinks he has a friend. His eyesight is failing, but he likes to look in the mirror. And perhaps he believes that he is not the last of the flamingos.

MARTINA NICOLLS is an international aid and development consultant, and the author of:- The Shortness of Life: A Mongolian Lament (2015), Liberia’s Deadest Ends (2012), Bardot’s Comet (2011), Kashmir on a Knife-Edge (2010) and The Sudan Curse (2009).