LAS VEGAS (KSNV) — A 27-year-old flamingo named Peachy is expected to make a full recovery after police alleged the bird was choked and tortured by a Canadian tourist who breached the Flamingo hotel’s wildlife habitat Wednesday morning.
Peachy is one of six flamingos who stay at the Flamingo hotel’s wildlife habitat.
The habitat was breached Wednesday morning when police said a Canadian tourist allegedly trespassed into the area and began chasing flamingos around before grabbing Peachy and taking him to his hotel room.
“Please don’t enter enclosures. Please don’t spook them. It’s not funny. It’s actually really, really scary and can be detrimental to their health,” Dr. Tiffany Moore said.
Police identified the suspect as Mitchell Fairbarn. Investigators said Fairbarn can be seen on video choking the flamingo and throwing him to the ground many times.
Dr. Moore, the medical director at Lone Mountain Animal Hospital, said she cares for many exotic pets, including the flamingos at the Flamingo Hotel: Peachy, Blackjack, Bugsy, Pitbull, Omega and Bubbalicious.
“When I saw Peachy, he was bright and alert and responsive, and he was stable, but there were some minor injuries to his wings,” Dr. Moore said.
Police said the visitor was intoxicated and told officers he grabbed Peachy and attempted to “pop his wing back into place.”
Investigators said they found a bloody feather in Fairbarn’s hotel room.
“There were a couple blood feathers that were injured and we took care of that with pain meds to help support because it is painful very similar to ripping off a fingernail,” Moore said.
Moore said animals like Peachy can also suffer from capture myopathy, a potentially deadly condition caused by extreme stress.
“Where you capture an animal, their body builds up a lot of stress. It also causes a lot of acid buildup, which can eventually lead to death,” she said.
Moore said Peachy did not show any signs of capture myopathy.
“As of right now, he’s alert, he’s doing well. His fiesty personality is coming back, so we’re really happy to see that it looks like he is going to make a full recovery,” Moore said.