A Woodland Park Zoo flamingo chick, a girl shown in photo, needs the community's help in naming her. Vote on a name through Thursday, January 18, noon (PST) at www.zoo.org/flamingonaming. (Jeremy Dwyer-Lindgren/Woodland Park Zoo)
Help Woodland Park Zoo name a female flamingo chick through an online naming poll! The poll starts today, Friday, January 12 and ends Thursday, January 18 at noon (PST).
The zoo’s flamingo keepers selected the names which represent national parks in Patagonia, one of the main regions where Chilean flamingos range. Visit www.zoo.org/flamingonaming and vote on a name below:
- Torres
- Lauca
- Patagonia
- Magdalena
The nameless chick was among five other flamingos that hatched off exhibit last September at Woodland Park Zoo.
WestsideSeattle covered their early lives here
A team of expert zoo staff has been hand-raising the chicks behind the scenes. The six Chilean flamingos mark the first hatching of the species at the zoo since 2016 and bring the zoo’s current flock to 49 flamingos.
The six eggs were acquired from Zoo Atlanta to help Woodland Park Zoo bolster its aging flock that is no longer breeding.
starting Friday, January 12 through Thursday, January 18 at noon (PST).
As part of the flamingos’ wellness program, the animal keepers take the chicks on daily walks throughout the zoo to stretch and strengthen their legs. The chicks will soon join the zoo’s ambassador animals program, which helps build guests’ empathy for animals and promotes ways to take action for wildlife through engaging, up-close experiences across the zoo. When not in a program, the chicks will live with the zoo’s flock of adult flamingos.
Chilean flamingos have an extensive range throughout much of southern South America in Chile, Peru, Bolivia, Argentina and Uruguay. Chilean flamingos have a range that extends from an elevation of 15,420 feet in the altiplano (high mountain plateau) to lowland saline estuaries where some overwinter along the southwest Chilean coast. The flamingo habitat at the zoo mimics the coastal salt marshes and estuaries of the temperate forest zone of Chile, specifically the island of Chiloé where flamingos find winter refuge.
Become a Digital ZooParent by adopting a Chilean flamingo. The ZooParent program supports the zoo’s animal care, education and wildlife conservation efforts in the Pacific Northwest and around the world.
Winter zoo hours: 9:30 a.m.-- 4:00 p.m. daily.
For more information or to become a zoo member, visit www.zoo.org or call 206.548.2500. Follow the zoo on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
