Two photographs taken on Sunday morning appear to show a young flamingo on a beach in Tréflez, Finistère, suggesting the bird that slipped out of a Cornwall wildlife sanctuary more than a week ago may have reached northern France.
The bird, known as Frankie, escaped from a walled garden at Paradise Park on 2 November despite having had some feathers clipped. Paradise Park director Nick Reynolds said the images are likely of Frankie, noting the right wing shows missing feathers where the team had trimmed her wings. Staff are waiting on clearer pictures to confirm for certain.
Mr Reynolds described the week since Frankie’s disappearance as very difficult, but said the new photos were “lovely” to see and showed the bird looking fit and well. He said it is within a flamingo’s capabilities to fly the distance to northern France, although it is not a small undertaking.
He also warned that returning Frankie to the UK would be complicated by bird-flu regulations and associated paperwork, and the park hopes she may instead join a colony of greater flamingos in southern France.
Frankie was born in July and was the first chick successfully reared by her parents at Paradise Park. The sanctuary has asked anyone who spots the bird to send photos and location details via its Facebook page, saying she is still their baby and they want to know what is happening with her.
