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Ball of Fluff 16 July 2004 Some lucky visitors to the Wildlife Park
recently have been delighted by a little ball of white fluff in with the pink
flamingos. The baby flamingo was only hatched on July 7th and has been closely
brooded by the parents ever since. The chick has only been visible when the
adults change shifts or, to the sharp eyed, when it pops its head up from
beneath a wing.
That is all set to change in the next few days when the chick will be big enough
to leave the nest and begin exploring its new environment. It will still be fed
by the adults until it is about a month old and at three months old will be more
recognizable as a flamingo.
The Chilean flamingos at the Curraghs Wildlife
Park were moved in 2002 to an enclosed aviary since previous hatchings at
the Park had been lost to predators. At the same time the flock was
considerably enlarged, the extra birds purchased with a generous donation from
the Friends of the Curraghs Wildlife Park as
their Millennium Project.
Nick Pinder, General Manager of the Wildlife Park, explained:
"The theory is that the new young birds will learn about mating and nesting
and chick-rearing from the few mature ones and for them to breed so soon after
being moved means that that learning process will have much more chance of
long-term success."
Chairman of the Friends, Mr Roy Howarth, commented on the arrival of the new
chick:
"It is splendid news and very gratifying that our hard work raising money has
paid off so handsomely and so quickly. Increasing the size of the flamingo flock
was not a high priority for the Park management and this project shows how
effective the Friends can be. We're on a recruitment drive at the moment and
anyone interested in joining should get a leaflet from their local library or
from the Wildlife Park itself." More stories >>>
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