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).
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