Flamingo that escaped from Kansas zoo 13 years ago is thriving in Texas

Flamingoes.
(Image credit: Dan Kitwood/Getty Images)

No. 492 may have a boring name, but this African flamingo has led a very exciting life.

The flamingo was one of 40 sent from Tanzania to the Sedgwick County Zoo in Wichita, Kansas, in 2003. To keep the flamingoes from flying away, their feathers were clipped annually (it's like a person getting a haircut, Scott Newland, Sedgwick County Zoo curator of birds, told The New York Times), but in June 2005, No. 492 and its friend, No. 347, overdue for a clipping, were able to escape on a windy day.

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Catherine Garcia, The Week US

Catherine Garcia is night editor for TheWeek.com. Her writing and reporting has appeared in Entertainment Weekly and EW.com, The New York Times, The Book of Jezebel, and other publications. A Southern California native, Catherine is a graduate of the University of Redlands and the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.