First flamingo egg in five years laid at park

Paradise Park Wildlife Sanctuary said staff were "thrilled" after a flamingo laid an egg

A Caribbean flamingo has laid an egg at a wildlife sanctuary in Cornwall for the first time in five years, keepers have said.

Paradise Park Wildlife Sanctuary in Hayle said the egg was laid on 15 June.

Keeper Becky Waite said the first and only time a Caribbean flamingo egg hatched in the park was in 2019.

The sanctuary said it was "thrilled" and "very excited" by the news as it did not happen often.

The park said it hoped the egg would hatch next month

Ms Waite said it was hoped the egg would hatch next month after a 31-day incubation period.

She said other flamingos in the flock also appeared to be interested in nesting.

"So you never know, more eggs could be laid soon," she said.

Ms Waite said the parents had been named Colin and Penelope, inspired by the characters from Netflix series Bridgerton.

She said the sanctuary's famous flamingo, Derek, was the last egg to hatch at the park.

The new egg is from a different pair to Derek’s parents, Ms Waite said.

"The name Derek was my initial nickname for 'him', but at about eight days old, I sent a bit of the eggshell for DNA analysis and found out that Derek was in fact a girl," she said.

"The name had already stuck with everyone, so we decided to keep it."