The animal collection of GaiaZOO has been expanded with no fewer than 400 large flamingos. It is the largest group of flamingos that can be admired in a European zoo. Groups of this size can only be seen in Singapore and Dubai. The new habitat of the flamingos is a huge aviary with a surface area of 3,000 m2 and consists of a green and varied, wetland area. This offers these colony birds all the space they need to display their natural, species-specific behavior and is therefore in line with GaiaZOO's philosophy about keeping animals.
Of the six species within the flamingos, the great flamingo – with a body length of about 150 cm – is the largest variant. With its beautiful white-pink plumage with orange accents, its striking pink angled bill with a black tip, its extremely long neck and deep pink legs, the bird has a very elegant appearance. Its native habitat extends from Africa through Europe to Asia. The colony of 400 flamingos that has taken up residence at GaiaZOO came from a bird park in Germany, where they had outgrown their residence. Over the past 25 years, the group has grown into a special, social group with various colors and ages, which makes the whole even more impressive.
Greater flamingos live in large groups in shallow water, often together with other bird species. The colony in GaiaZOO is therefore also supplemented with striking species such as cattle egrets, knob ducks, hammerheads and the noisy hadada ibises. In the wild, flamingos filter algae and small crustaceans out of the water with their curved bills by moving their heads back and forth. The dye in their food causes the pink feather color.
