New arrival in Moscow zoo

The latest arrival at Moscow zoo is certainly ruffling a few feathers among visitors. A baby flamingo has just taken its first shaky steps after being born two months ago.

Small, grey and fluffy – not exactly the words you’d use to describe a flamingo. But having just flown the nest this is precisely how the chick should look. And it’s certainly getting people in a flap.

Aleksandr Ilyin has come to Moscow zoo with his daughter Alena, all the way from Komsomolsk-on-Amur in the Far East of Russia. They come twice a year and top of their list this time was seeing the flamingos.

“I like flamingos as they are very beautiful and unusual. You always want to see them and to be honest Moscow zoo is the only place in Russia where you get that chance,” Aleksandr says.  

A flamingo’s pink feather colour should start to appear within the first 3 years of a chick’s life. The colour comes from a diet rich in beta-carotene, which they naturally find in shrimp, blue-green algae and seeds. In captivity the menu is a bit different

“We include grated carrot, grated beetroot, and other vegetables which contain carotene. The birds would be very pale if they didn’t get this – a sign of being unhealthy,” says Elena Mendosa, Moscow zoo press secretary.

But for the time being, the chick will feed on special milk from its parents, which is dark red in colour and very high in fat until it gets the strength to stand on its own two feet.