Tiny Edinburgh Zoo Chilean flamingo chick takes its first wobbly steps in adorable video footage
Watch as a fluffy flamingo chick at Edinburgh Zoo stretches and takes its first tentative steps before sitting back down for a well-earned rest.
An adorable video shows a tiny Chilean flamingo chick taking its first wobbly steps at Edinburgh Zoo as its parents watch on.
The chick, which hatched on September 4, is the zoo’s first in nine years, and marks a major milestone for the zoo’s breeding programme.
To maximise the chance of eggs successfully hatching, keepers temporarily remove them from the nest site and place them in incubators. During incubation, the adult flamingos are provided with dummy eggs so they can continue their natural parenting behaviours. Once the chicks begin to break through the eggshell they are returned to the nests.
Lorna Hughes, birds and primates team leader at Edinburgh Zoo, said: “We have been caring for this flock for years and to see a chick hatching and being taken care of by its parents is just incredible.
“It is still early, but the chick is looking stronger every day so we are hopeful they will grow nice and healthy. Flamingo chicks develop quickly, doubling in weight within days, so we are already seeing our little one get bigger. Now we just need to keep everything crossed for the remaining eggs still in the incubator.”
The ages of the zoo’s flamingo flock range from the newly hatched chick to Shrimpy, Louis and Rio, who are estimated to have hatched in 1961.