Successful flamingo breeding at Chemnitz Zoo
The first chicks hatched as early as mid-June. A total of ten chicks have been born this year, the last one on 9 July. With ten chicks this year, the zoo has set a new breeding record and, at the same time, achieved its fifth consecutive successful flamingo breeding season since 2022.
Although flamingos are among the most popular and commonly kept bird species in zoos, they were long considered difficult to breed. The conditions required for successful breeding were the subject of intensive research. It emerged that, amongst other things, a sufficiently large group, as balanced a sex ratio as possible, and a disturbance-free environment are necessary.
At Chemnitz Zoo, too, breeding success did not come straight away. The greater flamingos have been kept here since the mid-1990s. After the group was expanded in 2015, courtship behaviour was observed for the first time. The decisive breakthrough finally came thanks to the support of the animal keepers in building the characteristic cone-shaped nests. Since then, the eggs have been incubated naturally there and the chicks are raised jointly by both parents, allowing visitors to watch the chicks grow up at close quarters.
The chicks are easily recognisable by their white-grey plumage. The typical pink colouring develops gradually as they consume carotenoid-rich food and is only fully established once they are over three years old.
In the spring of this year, Chemnitz Zoo reached another milestone in its flamingo breeding programme: on 16 April 2026, 13 greater flamingos were transferred to another zoological institution for the first time. The successful breeding programme of recent years has made this possible and underlines the sustainable development of flamingo husbandry at Chemnitz Zoo.
Opening hours:
Chemnitz Zoo
Daily 9 am to 7 pm
Oberrabenstein Wildlife Enclosure
Daily from 9 am to 6 pm