{"id":24709,"date":"2025-09-19T01:18:12","date_gmt":"2025-09-19T01:18:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/24709\/"},"modified":"2025-09-19T01:18:12","modified_gmt":"2025-09-19T01:18:12","slug":"new-flamingo-chicks-amazing-turnaround-for-isle-of-man-park","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/24709\/","title":{"rendered":"New flamingo chicks &#8216;amazing turnaround&#8217; for Isle of Man park"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/1757506628_512_grey-placeholder.png\" class=\"sc-86c96223-0 iMuqLZ hide-when-no-script\" aria-label=\"image unavailable\"\/><img decoding=\"async\"   src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/e7e98160-93bc-11f0-bd0e-75d70011515a.jpg.webp.webp\" loading=\"eager\" alt=\"Keeper Karin Three grey-feathered flamingo chicks stand and sit in the foreground with adult pink flamingos behind them in an outdoor area with dark mud and sand.\" class=\"sc-86c96223-0 fHZDyi\"\/>Keeper Karin<\/p>\n<p>Seven flamingo chicks have been born at Curraghs Wildlife Park in 12 months <\/p>\n<p class=\"sc-9a00e533-0 bJoRPJ\">The successful breeding of seven Chilean flamingo chicks at a Manx wildlife park represents an &#8220;amazing turnaround&#8221; for the colony, keepers have said. <\/p>\n<p class=\"sc-9a00e533-0 bJoRPJ\">Last September saw the <a target=\"_self\" href=\"https:\/\/www.bbc.co.uk\/news\/articles\/cp9z5718r2xo\" class=\"sc-f9178328-0 jZoZnB\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">first hatchling of the species<\/a> at the Curraghs Wildlife Park for 18 years, with a further six hatching since.<\/p>\n<p class=\"sc-9a00e533-0 bJoRPJ\">General manager Kathleen Graham said it meant the Ballaugh conservation facility was now home to &#8220;the most flamingo chicks of any collection in the British Isles&#8221;. <\/p>\n<p class=\"sc-9a00e533-0 bJoRPJ\">The species has been described as &#8220;near threatened&#8221; by the International Union for Conservation of Nature.<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/1757506628_512_grey-placeholder.png\" class=\"sc-86c96223-0 iMuqLZ hide-when-no-script\" aria-label=\"image unavailable\"\/><img decoding=\"async\"   src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/fcf9a800-93bc-11f0-bd0e-75d70011515a.jpg.webp.webp\" loading=\"lazy\" alt=\"Keeper Karin One grey-feathered flamingo chick sits on a rocky area. Another sits on the back of an adult pink flamingo. Two other pink flamingos stand nearby in front of a green leafy area.\" class=\"sc-86c96223-0 fHZDyi\"\/>Keeper Karin<\/p>\n<p>The colony at the wildlife park now has 25 flamingos <\/p>\n<p class=\"sc-9a00e533-0 bJoRPJ\">A spokesman for the park said keepers had built an extended beach area on the island within their enclosure, which the birds &#8220;seemed to approve&#8221; of and had begun to &#8220;build volcano-shaped nests almost straight away&#8221;.<\/p>\n<p class=\"sc-9a00e533-0 bJoRPJ\">They explained that raising the chicks in the first few weeks was &#8220;very much the responsibility of the whole colony&#8221; and said it had been &#8220;lovely&#8221; to see how the adults had gathered round to protect the little ones.<\/p>\n<p class=\"sc-9a00e533-0 bJoRPJ\">With the population at the park reaching 25, staff were hopeful the &#8220;current breeding success&#8221; would continue as &#8220;the larger the group, the more likely they are to breed&#8221;, he added.<\/p>\n<p class=\"sc-9a00e533-0 bJoRPJ\">When the chicks hatch they have grey-white down and a straight beak.<\/p>\n<p class=\"sc-9a00e533-0 bJoRPJ\">They develop their pink colour over a few years as they eat foods rich in the carotenoid pigments that make some plants, algae and crustaceans red, orange, pink and yellow.<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/1757506628_512_grey-placeholder.png\" class=\"sc-86c96223-0 iMuqLZ hide-when-no-script\" aria-label=\"image unavailable\"\/><img decoding=\"async\"   src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/01787960-93bd-11f0-bd0e-75d70011515a.jpg.webp.webp\" loading=\"lazy\" alt=\"Keeper Karin One larger grey-feathered flamingo chick flaps its wings. Four other pink flamingos stand nearby in front of a green leafy area.\" class=\"sc-86c96223-0 fHZDyi\"\/>Keeper Karin<\/p>\n<p>Under human care flamingos can live for about 40 years<\/p>\n<p class=\"sc-9a00e533-0 bJoRPJ\">Ms Graham said the team were unsure as to why there had been an influx of chicks.<\/p>\n<p class=\"sc-9a00e533-0 bJoRPJ\">&#8220;Sometimes you&#8217;re left with more questions than answers as to why now,&#8221; she added.<\/p>\n<p class=\"sc-9a00e533-0 bJoRPJ\">She explained that it could be one of a number of reasons, such as global warming or changes in diet.<\/p>\n<p class=\"sc-9a00e533-0 bJoRPJ\">&#8220;But to suddenly have two chicks was amazing last year and to see five this year is phenomenal,&#8221; she said.<\/p>\n<p class=\"sc-9a00e533-0 bJoRPJ\">&#8220;It has been an amazing turnaround for our Chilean flamingo colony, we&#8217;re very pleased to see them doing so well.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p class=\"sc-9a00e533-0 bJoRPJ\">&#8220;And it&#8217;s always nice to have babies, let&#8217;s be honest.&#8221;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Keeper Karin Seven flamingo chicks have been born at Curraghs Wildlife Park in 12 months The successful breeding&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":24710,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[26],"tags":[85,46,141,386],"class_list":{"0":"post-24709","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-wildlife","8":"tag-il","9":"tag-israel","10":"tag-science","11":"tag-wildlife"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24709","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=24709"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24709\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/24710"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=24709"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=24709"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=24709"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}