Flamingo escapes British zoo, flies over nearby farm

Jan. 25 (UPI) -- A flamingo escaped from a small zoo in Britain and was recaptured after spending some time flying over a nearby field.

Daniel Wright, who works at Berwick Court Farm, near Alfriston, England, said he looked out the window of his office Wednesday and saw a van from the nearby Drusillas Animal Park in the parking lot.

"I looked out the window to see a member of staff from Drusillas in our car park in a branded Drusillas car," Wright told The Argus newspaper. "She looked flustered, we joked about how she'd be on the hunt for an escaped animal."

Wright said he discovered minutes later that an escaped flamingo was indeed flying over a field on the farm.

"It was a beautiful sight seeing the bird fly overhead, but not something you expect to see on a Tuesday afternoon outside your office," he said.

The bird, a Chilean flamingo, was safely recaptured about 20 minutes later and returned to the facility.

"Our flamingo was only out for a very short period of time and was caught calmly and safely, and returned to the enclosure," a spokeswoman for the zoo said. "We are of course very pleased the animal has been returned unharmed and safe."

The zoo's website describes Chilean flamingos as "one of the larger flamingo species," growing to heights of up to 5 feet.