SAPPORO—Blending in with the locals is proving a bit of a challenge, what with the pinkness and all, but a fugitive flamingo is still eluding capture after two weeks among the gray herons of Hokkaido.
Keepers at the Asahiyama Zoo in Asahikawa city have been trying to catch the bird since it flew over a 1.2-meter fence in full view of visitors on July 18, but a variety of ruses including using other flamingos as a lure have failed.
On July 25, it was spotted on Otaru city’s Zenibako beach on the Sea of Japan but eluded all of the zoo staff’s attempts to catch it.
Two days later, it appeared near the mouth of the Mobetsugawa river in Monbetsu city on the Okhotsk Sea and then near Komukeko lake in the city.
On July 31, the keepers cooked up a plan to exploit flamingos’ flocking instincts by putting three other flamingos in a cage near its presumed hideout.
They have put a net around the cage to ensnare its legs if it approaches and are camping in a tent nearby. They had nothing to show for their efforts as of Aug. 1.
Asahiyama Zoo cuts some of the feathers of its 24 flamingos to prevent them from flying high, but the escaped bird’s feathers have apparently grown back.
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