‘Darling pink birds’ arrive at South Carolina zoo. See them emerge from their boxes
A South Carolina zoo received a bunch of packages with fragile cargo inside — “darling pink birds.”
The Greenville Zoo staff unboxed several flamingos, as shown in the zoo’s Instagram video. The “special delivery” was unloaded from a van, the video shows, with the zoo’s newest residents being held in large U-Haul cardboard boxes.
There were fifteen boxes of flamingos, the zoo said in an Oct. 13 Facebook post. It was sent the “beautiful shipment” from the North Carolina Zoo, according to the post.
The zoo assured viewers that transporting flamingos in cardboard boxes is a “best practice.” Since flamingos weigh around 4 pounds and have delicate wings, it’s necessary to ship them in containers that won’t cause them harm. Cardboard is a breathable shipping vessel for the birds, the zoo said, and it’s “very forgiving” compared to plastic or metal crates.
As staff hoisted the rosy birds out of their boxes, health check-ups began on the birds’ bodies, eyes and feet, as shown in the video.
Carried off by workers, the flamingos were taken to their enclosure. The birds huddled together — some squawking — as they assessed their new living situation, the video shows.
By the end of the video, the flamingos were running around their habitat as a flamboyance — the term for a group of flamingos.
A few Facebook users familiar with the flamingos in North Carolina were saddened by their departure but were delighted to see them embark on their new adventure.
“I’ll miss our NC flamingos but happy they have such a nice habit in Greenville. Thanks for taking care of them,” one user wrote.
This story was originally published October 19, 2023 at 1:54 PM with the headline "‘Darling pink birds’ arrive at South Carolina zoo. See them emerge from their boxes."
