Ten new flamingoes are now brightening up the Emperor Valley Zoo in Port-of-Spain.They will be under quarantine for the next four weeks and then join the ten flamingoes that have been there for the past two years.Flamingoes, which are part of T&T's natural fauna, have been hunted out from their natural habitat in the Caroni swamp.
In an interview, president of the Zoological Society Gupte Lutchmedial said the quarantine was normal before animals were put in cages at the zoo."We got the first set of flamingoes from the zoo two years ago and as soon as Africa (a habitat at the zoo) is built we will be receiving more animals from other zoos around the world. We are happy to have the San Diego zoo as our partners," he said.
Lutchmedial said with the increase in the number of flamingoes it will be possible for the birds to breed and eventually be introduced back into the wild.He said the zoo had noticed there were two flamingoes left in the natural habitat in the swamp.Joseph Kuhn, a keeper from the Bird Department in San Diego, came to T&T to see the facilities and upgrade the skills of the keepers at the zoo.
"We came two years ago and trained them on the flamingoes that they received. There are five males and five females," he said.Kuhn said the birds are of age to breed and may live to be 50.
