Last two flamingos of Australia resurrected as gay emblems for Feast festival

Australia's last two flamingos are being restored by taxidermists. The flamingos, known as Chile and Greater, will be on display at the South Australian Museum. The flamingos, who were both males, are being revived as gay symbols for South Australia's Feast Festival. They passed away in 2014 and 2018, respectively. Flamingos once roamed the Australian outback, but the last ice age meant the end of wild Australian flamingos. Since then Australia’s only flamingos were brought over to live in zoos.

''It is wonderful that their stories and that of their species can continue to be told. Current biosecurity rules mean we can’t import flamingos anymore so for some visitors this could be the only chance to ever get up close to these birds," Adelaide Zoo director Phil Ainsley told The Guardian.

Greater, who came to Australia in the 1930s, was believed to be the oldest flamingo in captivity in the world. The flamingo, Greater, died of old age at 83, having survived being beaten up by teenagers years previously. Two 17-year-old boys attacked and bled the blind bird. Chile, Australia's last living flamingo, died in 2018 from arthritis and old age at the age of 60. Then there weren't any. Because of illness concerns, there is a restriction on introducing flamingos to Australia. Reportedly, Jo Bain, a taxidermy specialist at the South African Museum, took on the work of freezing and then conserving them. He constructed moulds and new, long-lasting legs to hold the birds' bodies, secured their exquisite necks, treated the skin to look natural, and carefully feathered Chile and Greater.

Flamingos get pink hue from crustaceans

Flamingo obtain their colour from crustaceans that give salt lakes their pink hue. Flamingle that are unable to fly frequently perish when there is less water and a greater concentration ratio in the water. They are also suffering as a result of climate change and agricultural irrigation systems. According to scientists who uncovered fossilised footprints and bones in a creek, they vanished about 25,000 years ago. The Guardian reported, Trevor Worthy, a vertebrate palaeontologist at Flinders University stated, "the world and Australia got exceedingly dry because all the water was locked up in ice. All of Australia's lakes dried up at the same time, so there was nowhere for them to go. Too many lakes dried up at the same time... they were crammed."

(With inputs from agencies)

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