Name a flamingo at Paignton Zoo for Valentine’s Day
Paignton Zoo is asking fans to name their flamingos ahead of their ‘Love Island’ style social media series that will launch in the summer, when the birds will begin pairing up for their breeding season.
From Wednesday 14 February until Tuesday 20 February, commenters on Paignton Zoo’s pinned post on Instagram will be able to suggest names to be shortlisted. The zoo will then choose their favourite names and assign them to a flamingo, which will be identifiable by a ring tag on the bird’s ankle.
Zoo fans will then be able to follow the newly named flamingos when the courtship period begins at the start of summer.
The zoo will be documenting which birds have paired up, and allow their followers to vote for their favourite couple of the season.
Pete Smallbones, Curator of Birds at Paignton Zoo, commented:
“Chilean flamingo numbers are sadly decreasing in the wild. As a conservation charity, breeding programmes are vital to our mission of helping halt species decline. We will be monitoring the flock as they couple up over the breeding season, so we thought why not get the public involved? It would be a brilliant way to get more people invested in protecting the future of this species.”
The zoo estimates that they might see as many as ten breeding pairs this year. They have also emphasised that while they are hoping that the flamingos will breed this season, there is no guarantee that the pairing up will result in any flamingo chicks. Either way, the zoo is certain that followers will still enjoy watching the romantic bonds forming and rooting for their favourite couple.
