Hurricane Isaias: Flamingos ride out storm in zoo’s bathroom

PANAMA CITY, Fla. — Taking shelter during a hurricane is crucial, and a flamboyance of flamingos got a leg up on the storm warning, huddling together in the bathroom of a Florida Panhandle zoo as Hurricane Isaias roared onto shore.

ZooWorld in Panama City posted a video on its Facebook account, showing 30 of the pink birds honking and strutting through the bathroom after they were placed there by zoo personnel.

The crew included Mr. Sparklepants, at 10 years old the senior member of the group, The New York Times reported. Scuttle and Mango Shrimproll, 3-year-olds who had been raised at the zoo since they hatched, were also frolicking in the restroom, according to the newspaper.

A mirror added some distraction for the birds, who saw other flamingos in the reflection and began striking poses.

Kylie Appleton, the senior zookeeper at ZooWorld, shot the video before Isaias made landfall on Friday, the Times reported. Then team members boarded the doors to keep the flamingos confined.

Erika Newell, ZooWorld’s CEO, spent Friday night in an apartment on the facility grounds and checked on all of the animals at the zoo, according to the newspaper.

She told the Times that despite the confined quarters, the flamingos were in an ideal spot.

The birds rode out the storm and all were safe, zoo officials said, according to WFLA.

Newell is part of a network that provides support to zoos, aquariums and sanctuaries during catastrophes such as natural disasters.

Newell, who began working at ZooWorld in 2017, has seen the zoo weather several intense storms on the Panhandle. That included Hurricane Michael, a devastating Category 5 storm that hit the area in 2018, the Times reported.

The video also evoked memories of a photo taken at a Miami zoo during Hurricane Andrew, the Category 5 hurricane that devastated South Florida in 1992, according to the newspaper.

The Miami-Metro Zoo repeated the action in 1999 when Hurricane Floyd threatened the area.

“You just have to say, ‘Well, I either get these animals inside or they don’t make it,’” Newell told the newspaper. “So you find a way to get those animals inside and you get very, very creative.”

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