Critically Injured Flamingo Gets A New Lease Of Life, Reunites With Flock In Najafgarh Wetlands

A Greater Flamingo bird that was found critically injured in South Delhi has been successfully treated and has been released into the wild where it has joined the flock. The 2.5 years old Greater Flamingo (Phoenicopterus roseus) was spotted with critical wing injury in South Delhi two weeks ago by some local residents who alerted the NGO Wildlife SOS.

Wildlife SOS

"We received a call from someone who informed us that they spotted a flamingo on the road which was injured and could not fly. So we rescued it and brought to the Delhi Zoo as they are better equipped for this kind of case," Arinita Sandilya, Press Officer of Wildlife SOS said.

At the Delhi Zoo, the flamingo was kept in an isolated enclosure where it was monitored and administered medicines.

"We monitored the flamingo's treatment and medical progress to expedite recovery so it could be returned to the wild," Dr. Vikas Jayswal, Veterinary Officer, Delhi Zoo, said.

In less than two weeks, the bird made a full recovery and was ready to be released into its natural habitat once again. After the Delhi Zoo declared it fit and hat the bird was ready for release Wildlife SOS team reached out to the Delhi bird group for their assistance in locating and identifying a resident flock of flamingos into which the bird could be integrated.

Wildlife SOS

Initially, it was planned that the bird will be released in Okhla, but since they could to find the resident flock there, the team decided to do it in the Najafgarh wetlands A resident flock of flamingos was identified at Najafgarh Jheel Wetlands.

A team consisting of Delhi Zoo Vet and Wildlife SOS team left with the flamingo from the Zoo for Najafgarh to begin the integration process. Since the flamingo flock was over 1 km from the bank in the wetlands, there was no road access. Therefore the team arranged a boat to transport the flamingo closer to the flock. When the team was a couple of hundred meters from the resident flock, the flamingo was released.

Wildlife SOS

"Delhi Bird members came to our aid and helped us identify resident flock of flamingos in Najafgarh Wetlands. This was a challenging situation as the only way to successfully release the bird was by using a boat," Kartick Satyanarayan, CEO of Wildlife SOS, said.

The team was reassured to observe that the flamingo started feeding in the water immediately upon release. Greater flamingos are the largest and most widespread flamingo species and live in flocks called colonies to protect individual birds from predators.

Parent flamingos produce a red color crop milk, in their digestive tracts and regurgitate it to feed their young.

Wildlife SOS

"It's a pleasure to see that the isolated bird was reunited with its family and set free in its natural habitat. More zoos must make sincere efforts to return wildlife to their habitat, as their contribution to conservation," Dr. Suneesh Buxy, IFS, the Director NZP Delhi Zoo, said.

"This is one of the most exciting adventures we have experienced. Our parents encouraged us to protect birds and become nature lovers. It was inspiring to see Delhi Zoo and Wildlife SOS work so hard to put this bird back in its natural habitat," Bhavya and Pranav Gupta, young bird enthusiasts present during the release, said.