Chilean flamingos born for the first time at ZooParc.

For the first time in ZooParc Overloon's history, two Chilean flamingos have hatched. The first chick is now three weeks old and the second chick is now over a week and a half old.

Over the past period there have been a number of changes for the group of flamingos, allowing ZooParc to welcome the first chicks of this almost endangered species. Zookeeper Tom Verschoor: "One of those changes was that the group got bigger: from Dierenrijk we got a number of younger flamingos. We know that the species thrives in large groups, so together with the arrival of the younger animals and by making some adjustments to the enclosure, it is probably the reason that it did succeed this year!"

The sex of the young flamingos will not be known until they acquire the brown plumage in a few months. A feather is plucked and DNA testing is done. "To the naked eye, you can't easily tell which sex the flamingo is, so that's why DNA testing is needed. A trained eye might be able to tell, but we at ZooParc currently lack experience with that" laughs Verschoor.

Right now there are still five eggs on the nests near the flamingos. Whether they will hatch remains to be seen. Verschoor: "The flamingos are still very inexperienced, so it's just a matter of waiting and seeing."

In the wild
The numbers of the Chilean flamingo in the wild are declining. It is partly because precious resources are being extracted in the habitat. The flamingo species is very fearful, so when the habitat is only slightly disturbed, they already disappear from the area. The flamingo species is also captured because parts of the bird are believed to have medicinal properties.

General manager of ZooParc Roel Huibers: "We are absolutely thrilled that the changes have helped and that we are thereby contributing to a healthy population of flamingos in zoos. And of course it's a beautiful image: those two small, gray flamingos between the big, pink birds."

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