June 9, 2007, Ardastra Gardens, Nassau Bahamas….Ardastra Gardens has repeated its success of hatching 2 Caribbean Flamingo chicks at the Gardens this past week.  The new editions are awaiting the arrival of 4 other playmates later this month.

Staff at Ardastra are ecstatic about the arrival of the chicks, as they have only been breeding the flamingo successfully since 2001, despite the fact that the Bahamas’ national bird has been at the Zoo since the late 1950s.  “Key to our success in the past few years has been a change in diet (of the flamingos) and modifications to their pond”, says Jade Greensword, Curator at Ardastra.  She further stated, “in the past, we’ve had a problem with the spring rains destroying the eggs, so this year, we moved their nesting area to higher ground, protecting the eggs from being drowned.  This modification has proven successful and we’re very happy that we did it!”

To date, Ardastra Gardens has successfully hatched a total of 14 Caribbean Flamingos.  These flamboyant birds can be seen at the Gardens daily putting on their world famous marching show.