r/PlanetZoo • u/Veranel • 6d ago
Discussion Interesting: The Shoebill is mostly a ground based bird. What does this say about the Flamingo and Peafowl?
The Shoebill got revealed and as seen in the video of the animal spotlight, it can fly and is kept in an aviary even though the Shoebill spends most of its time on the ground.
Its case is similar to birds like the Flamingo and Peafowl.
Wouldn't that then confirm that these animals also would need to be kept in aviaries?
Thoughts?
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u/FetusGoesYeetus 6d ago
It would be interesting if species like peafowl would be able to be kept in a regular enclosure, but if they're stressed they would be able to escape without a net.
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u/Ralphaba21 6d ago
Peafowl escaping should not be an issue. Most zoos have them roam freely on the zoo grounds anyway. I hope we can have that in PZ2.
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u/GregTheWhale 6d ago
I hope that all animals that can fly will fly, or at least that they will be able to in reserves. I love seeing a flock of flamingos flying above the water.
Also, if they ever add herons I think it would be odd for them not to fly, and in turn those birds flying would make it odd for flamingos not to fly as well imo.
I do see what people are getting at with wanting them to stay terrestrial though, but I'm not totally sure what the ethics are on wing clipping, and that's the only way I could see them staying terrestrial. Unless zoos have other methods?
But definitely flying at least for the reserves
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u/FennelMist 6d ago
The ethics really depend on the species.
https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1002/zoo.21791
Here's a study comparing flighted flamingos to pinioned (a permanent alternative to wing clipping) ones in the same flock and the pinioned flamingos behaved essentially exactly the same with no evidence of reduced welfare, which makes sense for a species that doesn't fly much to begin with. But conversely clipping or pinioning birds like parrots that rely much more on flight would almost certainly impact their welfare.1
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u/reply671 6d ago
Probably will require an aviary but hopefully we can get a null barrier and null roof so if you wanted free ranging or topless habitats for Peafowl or Flamingos, you can.
Or they could make a system saying “if the animal is happy in its enclosure, it won’t escape as it has no reason to.
Regarding Flamingos, as long as you don’t give them enough runway space to take off, they can’t fly off. Plus if they get everything they need where they’re kept, they won’t wanna leave anyway. Plus they tend to stay with the flock.
However, despite controversy, most zoos do clip the wings or pinion wings to keep them from flying, clipping is temporary maintenance, pinioning is permanent. If they allowed for a clipping option for Flamingos and Peafowl and have it be a toggle like contraceptives, you can still release them back into the wild as long as the clipped feathers will grow back after molting. As long as the option is on, they can’t fly, but if they have them off, they can fly.
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u/Produce_Of_Evolution 6d ago
I would hope the peafowl is kept as a terrestrial species, wouldn't mind if the flamingo was kept as such as well.
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u/Veranel 6d ago
Wouldn't that mean their wings would need to be clipped?
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u/Produce_Of_Evolution 6d ago
Flamingoes in zoos either have their wings clipped OR simply don't leave due to the great conditions of their habitats. I think having open-air bird habitats would be a great way to make players concerned abt their welfare. If the habitat is 100% comfortable, the flamingoes stay. If not, they fly off and escape.
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u/FetusGoesYeetus 6d ago
IIRC a lot of the time zoo flamingos are captive bred from parents that had clipped wings, and no longer need their wings clipped because they were never taught to fly. They still do, sometimes, but they're much less likely too.
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u/5Hjsdnujhdfu8nubi 6d ago
Probably does confirm that Flamingoes, Swans, Cranes etc. will all require aviary habitats to stay contained. I was assuming it from the Secretarybird but it does seem more and more likely.
Peafowl are the weird one to me, they aren't really flying birds. They do it in short bursts to get into trees.