Flamingos will be leaving North Carolina Zoo. (Photo courtesy of NC Zoo)
ASHEBORO – Flamingos are leaving the North Carolina Zoo.
A flock of 15 Chilean flamingos will be moved to the Greenville Zoo in South Carolina by late September.
A “Farewell Flamingos” event was held Saturday at the zoo. Some of the flamingos in the flock are from the original flock that arrived at the zoo in
August 1982.
The aviary closed in April 2022 because of its age. In order to demolish the building that housed the aviary, the flamingos had to be moved, according to information from the zoo.
“Flamingos are social birds that live in large flocks in the wild,” according to a North Carolina Zoo social media post. “We are very thankful to the Greenville Zoo for accepting the entire flock, as several of these birds have been together for over 25 years. We will miss our pink-feathered friends.”
There’s a flock of 19 flamingos already at the Greenville Zoo.
Chilean flamingos can live up to 50 years in captivity and grow to more than 4 feet tall.
A new aviary is in the planning stages for North Carolina Zoo. It’s unclear if flamingos will return if that’s constructed.
