How Did Baseball Clay Help Disney’s Animal Kingdom Flamingo Chicks?
How did baseball clay help Disney’s Animal Kingdom flamingo chicks?
This clay is being credited as the “secret ingredient” for helping Disney’s flamingos finally lay and hatch eggs!
For more than a decade, Disney’s Animal Kingdom flamingos have had challenges hatching chicks.
However, the addition of baseball clay has been a game changer for the Animal Kingdom team and the flamingos.
Meet Sandy
Sandy is the first lesser flamingo chick hatched at the theme park in over 10 years. For over a decade, the flamingos have been delighting guests but were not producing eggs.
The challenge? The flamingos could not get their nests to hold together.
“What was happening was every time we would get rain it would kind of erode away some of the nest it just wasn’t packing together,” said Kris Becker, a flamingo keeper at Disney’s Animal Kingdom Theme Park.
A Unique Solution
How did this team finally help the flamingoes to overcome the hatching challenges?
The solution came unexpectedly from the ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex.
The clay used for the baseball diamonds was just what the flamingos needed to hold the nests together. Once the sand was swapped out, the mating and hatching process progressed quickly.
“Last year I believe we got up to nine eggs,” James Sincage, the zoological manager at Disney’s Animal Kingdom, excitedly shared.
As more chicks hatch, Disney’s Animal Kingdom will be able to sustain their flock and additionally help the most threatened species of flamingo thrive.
Feature Article and Photo: WFTV Channel 9