The San Diego Zoo Safari Park welcomed two new flamingo hatchlings its colony of Greater Flamingos, which has the largest colony size of flamingos in the world.
Keepers from the bird department performed health exams on the two chicks that hatched on Tuesday, July 12. They weighed the chicks and took blood samples to determine their gender, according to the San Diego Zoo Safari Park. Each new flamingo also received a tiny microchip to help identify them.
When flamingos lay eggs the zoo keepers carefully watch over their progress at various stages of hatching. They recently discovered that one egg had ‘pipped,’ meaning that the chick cracked its first hole in the shell, explained an official from the San Diego Zoo Safari Park.
There are still two other eggs that are ‘full-term,’ meaning about to hatch. They have not yet pipped but the zoo keepers say it could happen very soon or within a few days. Altogether, 17 chicks have hatched this breeding season, which lasts between April and September. This brings the total number of hatches in the Safari Park’s breeding program to 192. The colony consists of 155 adult birds and 17 chicks from the Africa Tram Safari.
A zoo official said the Greater flamingos are not an endangered species and are the most populous of the world’s flamingos species. However, there is some cause for concern due to the increasing disappearance of their natural habitat.
“Greater flamingos serve as ambassador species for wetlands conservation,” said Jenny Tibbott, senior bird keeper, San Diego Zoo Safari Park, in a press release. “Flamingos are one of the more well-known bird species; they are loud, tall, bright and beautiful.
These vibrant birds rely on wetland ecosystems. According to the San Diego Safari Zoo, this type of environment is disappearing more rapidly than any other kind of ecosystem in the world. Besides flamingos, they also provide shelter for many plants, fish and amphibian species.
