Flamingo chick takes wobbly first steps
Posted 11 Sep 2025
Edinburgh Zoo’s adorable week-old Chilean flamingo chick has taken its first tentative steps under the watchful eyes of its parents.
The chick, which hatched on 4 September 2025, is the zoo’s first in almost a decade, and marks a major milestone for the zoo’s breeding programme.
With this arrival, Edinburgh Zoo’s flamingo flock now contains both its youngest and oldest residents. From the newly hatched chick to Shrimpy, Louis and Rio, who are estimated to have hatched in 1961.
Notes to Editors
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Notes to Editors
- The chick hatched on 4 September 2025
- At hatching, their beaks are straight, with the distinctive downward curve beginning to develop around three to four weeks
- Their soft white down will gradually gain the pink colouration for which flamingos are known as pigments from their diet build up over time
- The Chilean flamingo is listed as Near Threatened on the IUCN Red List, meaning it could become Endangered. Its survival is threatened by habitat loss from mining, water diversion and pollution, as well as human disturbances like unregulated tourism and egg collection
About the Royal Zoological Society of Scotland (rzss.org.uk)
- The Royal Zoological Society of Scotland (RZSS) is a wildlife conservation charity with a bold vision: a world which protects, values and loves nature
- Edinburgh Zoo and Highland Wildlife Park are gateways to the natural world through which people can experience nature, learn about the challenges facing wildlife and discover how we harness our expertise in conservation science and animal care alongside the unique power of the RZSS family – our teams, supporters and partners – to save animals from extinction
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