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Zookeepers in Cornwall have decided to grant an escaped flamingo what she apparently has gone to great lengths to attain: freedom.
Four-month-old Frankie took flight on 2 November, despite having her feathers clipped, from the walled garden of Paradise Park in Hayle.
She amazed her owners when apparent sightings of the audacious phoenicopter were reported more than 100 miles away in Brittany, France.
Now Paradise Park has confirmed Frankie did indeed make the 120-mile flight across the Channel to the coast at Plage de Keremma – and they have decided not to attempt to bring her home.
In an update, Paradise Park curator David Woolcock said: “It was never our intention for Frankie to end up in the wild. There are a number of reports of similar situations where flamingos have lived for many years and thrived, including over European winters, so while we will continue to worry about her it is a position we have to accept.
“We are confident that her movements will be observed and logged in France by the citizen science members and feel relieved to know that she has shown the resilience and skills that will serve her well as a ‘wild’ flamingo. Frankie’s parents and the rest of the flock at Paradise Park continue to do well.”
Woolcock said it would be too hard to catch Frankie and if she were caught she would need to be health screened, and she also now poses a risk as she may have been in contact with birds with avian influenza.
The zoo believes Frankie was able to fly despite having her wings clipped because her feathers were continuing to grow as she developed, adding that wing clipping inhibits the ability to take off, but not necessarily the ability to fly once airborne.
Addressing fears over her chance of survival, Woolcock said: “She was feeding independently and was a supremely fit young bird before she left the park. All the evidence that we have seen of her in France shows a well-adjusted, well-fed bird doing extremely well.”
