Gazelle : The Palestinian Biological Bulletin (ISSN 0178 – 6288) . Number 146, February 2017, pp. 1-25. | Page 6

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out small shrimp, seeds, blue-green algae, microscopic organisms and mollusks.
The greater flamingo feeds with its head down and its upper jaw is movable and
not rigidly fixed to its skull (Wikipedia).

Lifespan
The average lifespan in captivity, according to Zoo Basel, is over 60 years.
The oldest known greater flamingo was a bird at the Adelaide Zoo in Australia
who died aged at least 83 years old. The bird's exact age is not known; he was
already a mature adult when he arrived in Adelaide in 1933. He was euthanized
in January 2014 due to complications of old age. Known as "Greater" or
"Flamingo 1", Adelaide Zoo's greater flamingo survived an attack by four youths
in 2008 (Wikipedia).

The Greater Flamingo (Phoenicopterus roseus), the Reef Heron (Egretta gularis), the Great Egret
(Ardea alba) and the Black-headed Gull (Chroicocephalus ridibundus) at Ras Al Khor Wildlife
Sanctuary in Dubai, UAE. Photo by my precious daughter Nora Norman Ali Khalaf. 13.06.2015.
https://www.flickr.com/photos/50022881@N00/19161755152/

Relationship with Humans
Captivity
The first recorded zoo hatch was in 1959 at Zoo Basel. In Zoo Basel's breeding
program over 400 birds have been hatched with an average of between 20 and 27
per year since 2000.
Gazelle : The Palestinian Biological Bulletin – Number 146 – February 2017