Flamingo that escaped Kansas zoo visits Texas 13 years later

June 26 (UPI) -- Wildlife officials said a flamingo that escaped from a Kansas zoo in 2005 has been spotted near a body of water in Texas.

Texas Parks and Wildlife tweeted a photo snapped by a department intern surveying bird species near Lavaca Bay.

The photo shows No. 492, a flamingo that escaped from Kansas' Sedgwick County Zoo in 2005 and has been spotted in several different states since flying the coop.

The flamingo was born in Tanzania and lived for a time in South Africa before becoming one of 39 flamingos shipped to the Kansas zoo in 2004. The flamingo's wings were never clipped, allowing it to fly to freedom before officials were able to name it or even determine its sex.

The bird was previously spotted in Texas in 2013 and sightings have also been confirmed in states including Louisiana and Wisconsin.

The flamingo is believed to be about 23 years old and experts said it could live to be 50 or beyond in the wild.