Chile dies: Australia’s only flamingo dies

Australia had only one flamingo. It was Chile, in the Adelaide Zoo.

Chile was a Chilean Flamingo (Phoenicopterus chilensis) who has lived in the Adelaide Zoo for the past 40 or more years. Originally, she was accompanied by a large number of flamingoes – Greater Flamingoes from Africa (Phoenicopterus roseus), but she has outlived them all.

I regularly visited the Adelaide Zoo in my childhood, to see Chile and her companions. The zoo keepers placed a mirror in her enclosure when she became the only flamingo left at the zoo. She was virtually blind, but would often stand in front of the mirror.

I visited Chile at the Adelaide Zoo last month in March 2018. The photographs attached are of Chile a month ago. Chile died on 12 April 2018.

The Adelaide Zoo released the following notice :

Remembering Chile

Chile was an extraordinary flamingo who will forever hold a special place in the hearts of all in our zoo community. It’s believed Chile first called Adelaide Zoo home in the 1970s. Since then, this special flamingo has delighted staff and visitors alike with her beautiful pink plumage and quirky interactions with the public.

Though flamingos are usually social creatures, Chile’s keepers described her as having a very independent personality, showing in the way she adapted to the becoming the sole star of the flamingo pond after the passing of her long-term companion, Greater the flamingo, in 2014.

As Australia’s only flamingo, over the years Chile has acted as a powerful ambassador for her near-threatened species in the wild. She will always be remembered by the millions of visitors who had the pleasure to meet her, and will go down in the zoo’s history as one of its most iconic residents.

Rest peacefully, Chile.

MARTINA NICOLLSis an international aid and development consultant, and the authorof:- Similar But Different in the Animal Kingdom(2017), 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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