Flock of baby flamingos not so "cheep".

The estuaries around the Rio Lagartos Reserva de la Biosfera in Yucatan, Mexico are one of the major nesting areas for flamingos. Recently, a jaguar raided a nesting colony of flamingos in the Rio Lagartos reserve, killing a number of adult flamingos. The flock abandoned the nesting site, leaving an estimated 400 eggs just as they were about to hatch. Reserve biologists, as well as keepers from a local zoo, collected the eggs and began incubating them in an attempt to hatch and rear the birds.

With over 200 chicks hatched and more hatching daily, the biologists needed help feeding and rearing the chicks. Chris Brown, curator of birds with the Dallas Zoo, put out the call for help from his Mexican colleague, Rodrigo Migoya von Bertrab, to the Fort Worth Zoo and many members of the American Zoo and Aquarium Association (AZA) through several bird-related listservs.

Bird keepers and biologists from the Dallas Zoo and Fort Worth Zoo, as well as colleagues from SeaWorld Orlando, SeaWorld San Diego, the Franklin Park Zoo in Boston and others have made their way to Rio Lagartos to help. Many other AZA-accredited zoo and aquarium members have also responded by sending food and other supplies to help facilitate the mass feedings.

The chicks would normally be fed by the flamingo parents for three to four months before they are weaned. However, due to the necessity of hand-feeding such a large number of chicks (flamingo chicks need to be hand-fed special liquid diets via eye-droppers every three hours around the clock), protocols have been established that will allow for weaning to begin by the end of one month, with the eventual goal of releasing the birds to the wild in Rio Largartos.

Over the past several years the Fort Worth Zoo has played an integral role in helping establish an American flamingo conservation program and conducting nutritional research in Mexico. As a partner with the Rio Lagartos Reserva de la Biosfera, and with several other zoo and conservation programs, the Fort Worth Zoo hopes to conserve the flamingo habitat and educate people in Mexico about flamingo biology.