Fugitive flamingo spotted after over a decade

The fugitive escaped from a Kansas zoo over a decade ago, in 2005

A flamingo that escaped from a Kansas zoon over a decade ago was spotted in Texas.

The fugitive escaped the zoo over a decade ago, in 2005. The flamingo was tagged as number 492 at the Sedgwick County Zoo in Wichita, Kansas.

The bird was spotted in Lavaca Bay on the state's coastline. A summer intern working at the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department took notice of the bird. It has been sighted previously in Arkansas, Louisiana and Wisconsin, according to reports.

Flamingos are not native to the region and are only rarely found in Florida, making 492 an anomalous sight to residents.

492 was born in Tanzania, The Kansas City Star reported in a news story on an earlier sighting. The bird migrated to South Africa before it was shifted to the US. It was one of the 40 sent to Kansas in 2003 for a flamingo exhibit opened to the public in 2004.

Escaped zoo flamingo, on the lam since 2005, spotted near Lavaca Bay by our Coastal crew.

The African Flamingo made its break from a Kansas zoo after keepers failed to clip its wings, and has been spotted in several states since. pic.twitter.com/zsoYBf48Aa

— TX Parks & Wildlife (@TPWDnews) June 25, 2018

Scott Newland, curator of birds at Sedgwick County Zoo, spoke to the New York Times and explained that as the flamingos were adults, their wings were not clipped. The wings of young birds are usually clipped because they do not yet have sensation in their wing bones.

The zoo thus cut the birds' feathers instead, a procedure much like "getting a haircut". The procedure must be conducted often to prevent escapes.

However, in June 2005, flamingos 492 and 347 escaped from the zoo after staff delayed clippings too long.



The pair originally stayed in Wichita and a month later, on July 4, left the area after a thunderstorm.

347 is thought to have died. Flamingo 492 has, however, been seen in the area with a Caribbean flamingo, according to reports.

In 2013 Neal Hayward, a birdwatcher, spotted the Yucatan bird with a leg tag labelled HDNT with the Kansas escapee near Lavaca Bay.

According to reports by CBS News affiliate KEYE, 492 is around 23 years old. Flamingos can live to be 40 years, so the fugitive may be seen in the wild for much longer.

This article originally appeared on BBC News.