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Posted on 05/03/2022 12:49:57 PM PDT by nickcarraway
The incident is the first time a predator has broken into the exhibit in its 50 year history
A wild fox snuck into the outdoor flamingo habitat at the Smithsonian’s National Zoo and Conservation Biology Institute on Sunday night and killed 25 of its American flamingos—about a third of the 74-bird flock, per a zoo statement. A Northern pintail duck was also found dead, and three additional flamingos were injured.
“This is a heartbreaking loss for us and everyone who cares about our animals,” Brandie Smith, director of the zoo, says in the statement. “The barrier we used passed inspection and is used by other accredited zoos across the country. Our focus now is on the well-being of the remaining flock and fortifying our habitats.”
Report ad Zoo staff discovered the bodies early yesterday morning, along with a fox, which escaped the yard. They moved the remaining flamingos indoors and the ducks to a “covered, secure outdoor space,” per the statement. Veterinarians are treating the injuries of the three wounded birds.
The zoo’s flamingos live primarily in a 9,750-square-foot yard surrounded by heavy-duty metal mesh. The mesh was replaced in 2017 and passed an accredation inspection by the Association of Zoos and Aquariums. Staff regularly conduct exhibit-integrity inspections, and found nothing of concern during the last inspection at 2:30 p.m. on May 1, per the statement.
The next morning, workers found the dead birds and a new, softball-sized hole in the mesh. This incident is the first time a predator has broken through the barrier since the exhibit was installed over 50 years ago, the zoo says.
Following the attack, workers fortified the metal mesh, set up live traps and installed digital, motion-sensor cameras to monitor activity overnight.
Both American flamingos and Northern pintail ducks are listed as species of “least concern” on the International Union for Conservation of Nature’s Red List of Threatened Species. Though flamingos face threats such as habitat loss and nest disturbance, the IUCN states their population trends are increasing. Northern pintail duck populations are decreasing because of wetland habitat loss, predation disease and petroleum pollution, per the IUCN.
Foxes are omnivores, normally feeding on small rodents, fish, birds or fish. Smith told the Washington Post's Dana Hedgepeth that the incident was "normal" fox behavior and she does not expect the animal has rabies.
Foxes have killed captive flamingos in zoos before. In 2014, a fox decapitated 15 Chilean flamingos at the Frankfurt Zoo in Germany, per the Associated Press. In 1996, six flamingos owned by Queen Elizabeth II were slaughtered by a fox, and a seventh died later, reported the Associated Press.
Foxes are frequently spotted in Washington, D.C. Last month, officials euthanized a rabid fox responsible for biting nine people on Capitol Hill.
The National Zoo's oldest flamingo Betty, a 67-year-old Carribean flamingo, died of natural causes in January this year. Flamingos in human care usually live an average of 26 years.
Margaret Osborne is a freelance journalist based in the southwestern U.S. Her work has appeared in the Sag Harbor Express and has aired on WSHU Public Radio.
Our neighborhood here in northern Illinois has a den of foxes that run wild and get all the neighborhood dogs in a howling and barking frenzy.
LOL, I like that.
“Vulped”!
Raccoons on the other hand will kill everything...and might not eat anything.
Bobcats...will just take what they want...and leave the rest alone.
Just what I thought he would.
“Impossible, animals don’t kill for sport.”
You don’t have a cat, do you? I sort of feel sorry for mice at times. Peeve (Yes, my pet Peeve) will catch it, let it run across the room, catch it again, play with it and repeat until it dies from torture.
Preposterous. Canines don’t kill for fun they kill to eat.
/enviro whacko wolf supporters.
oops. #27. But I did add the /s tag.
Here in DuPage when the coyotes get to howling it makes our dog nuts.
L
Did the zoo at least get a new fox exhibit out of this mess?
Yes, it’s strange. Wouldn’t killing without eating quickly deplete the local food source and make whatever animals that remain more elusive?
“Here in DuPage when the coyotes get to howling it makes our dog nuts.”
I know. I’m in DuPage, just down North Avenue from you.
Pratt’s Wayne Woods is full of them. They prey on the geese and the occasional Sandhill Crane.
A friend of ours had her little dog picked off in her backyard while she was standing about 10 feet away. The people across the street nearly lost their Teacup Chihuahua to an owl not long ago.
L
Has Anthony Weiner been in town ... he has been mistaken for a fox before?
Flake off, Buddy, or I'll sic my butch partner on you!
No surveillance cameras and no night watch monitoring those cameras? Sounds like an Epstein setup.
“A friend of ours had her little dog picked off in her backyard while she was standing about 10 feet away. The people across the street nearly lost their Teacup Chihuahua to an owl not long ago.”
We have lot’s of wildlife where I live in Montan. Years ago we had a BIG fox come by for a few days...It was after our cat, Oslo, but he was a BIG boy himself and he was staring down the fox. I ran outside and the fox went away. He came back everyday for a few days and then - poof, he was gone. I know someone shot it. I had my rifle at the ready for several weeks and missed him twice.
As far as owls go, the same cat, Oslo, would not come in one evening and I knew where he was in the field so I began walking down to him. It was 10:00 PM and just had turned dark. I was 150’ from him when he let out a scream and a Great Grey Owl had tried to grab him. He had a cut on his back and hid under the porch for 1/2 hour before letting me take him in.
We keep our cats in now days until we go outside with them for a walk.
Honestly, I was thinking about this story as a metaphor for our southern border.
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