Some say that seeing two doves together is a symbol of good luck, but what about a runaway flamingo?
The aptly named Pink Floyd escaped from a Kansas zoo in 2005 — 17 years ago — and has been on the fly run ever since.
However, this week the Texas Parks and Wildlife Coastal Fisheries department shared a video of Pink Floyd wading into Cox Bay near Port Lavaca, Texas.
In the video taken March 10, the flamingo is seen casually strolling the dock, enjoying freedom.
Texas Parks and Wildlife even joked that it appeared Pink Floyd has “returned from the ‘dark side of the moon.'”
The department did note, however, that the bird has been spotted on the Texas coast for several years now.
The identity of Pink Floyd, also known as No. 492, was confirmed by the identification tag on his leg.
The bird and another flamingo escaped from the Sedgwick County Zoo in Wichita on a stormy night in June 2005.
Caretakers at the zoo believed it would be inhumane to amputate the bird’s wings when he initially arrived from Tanzania, as the bird was already an adult. Instead, the zoo decided to clip the bird’s feathers, which is a painless procedure akin to a haircut.
After missing the signs for a needed re-clipping to prevent the birds from flying, they were able to escape.
While the other flamingo was never seen again, No. 492 has been spotted several times in Wisconsin, Louisiana and Texas, sometimes with other wild flamingos. Officials said it had been a year or two since the bird was last seen in Texas.
Zoo officials have never made plans to recapture Pink Floyd, despite the sightings, saying there is no easy way to do so without disturbing other wildlife.
The escaped flamingos, known for their distinctive pink feathers and long legs and necks, were born in Africa and then shipped to the Kansas zoo in 2004 along with 39 other flamingos.
— with files from The Associated Press
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