The flamingos at the Denver Zoo are known as the 'flockstar.' Visitors to the Denver Zoo will quickly find out that the flamingos are local celebrities. Collectively, the 70
American and Chilean flamingos are known as flockstars and they’re each named after famous musicians. But recently, one of the zoo’s most endearing flamingos, Amott (named after Guitarist Michael Amott, a heavy metal rocker out of Sweden), gained some new fans far and wide after going viral on TikTok for hugging zoo guests. Amott approaches a few zoo visitors, retracting his neck into an S-shape, and snuggling into them. The video of Amott’s adorable crowd has been taken down, but there’s another TikTok video of flamingo hugs: Flamingo hugs aren’t a regularly scheduled interaction at the zoo. However, zookeepers during the spring and summer do take the flamingos for occasional walks around the zoo grounds so you might be lucky to see one of them graciously walking among zoo-goers. It’s completely up to the flamingos if they want to participate in the walk, explains Jake Kubié, communications director for the Denver Zoo. As soon as the gate opens, some will start strutting their stuff while others are more reserved and will hang back. Just like introverts and extroverts, the flamingos, too, have different personalities. “Amott, the one from the video, loves hugs and will snuggle up with people,” Kubié says. “Some others are more stand-offish.” The resident flamingo’s names read like a
music hall of fame—there’s Swift, Legend, Jonas, Slash, Denver, and Diamond to name a few. And, just like rockstars, the Denver Zoo’s flamingos are no strangers to publicity! In fact, before the hugging flamingo was trending on on TikTok, the zoo’s flamingos were spotlighted during Pride Month. The new flamingo habitat at the Denver Zoo. Beginning in 2014, a Chilean flamingo named Lance Bass and an American flamingo named Freddie Mercury partnered up and were in a same-sex relationship. They took part in mating rituals like head flagging and marching and the zoo knew things were serious when they built a nest together. The lovebirds eventually uncoupled back in 2020. If you’re inspired to see the flamingos for yourself, you can find them in their new habitat at the Denver Zoo. The space is inspired by the Andean Highlands. Visitors can get up-close views of the flamboyance (which is the term for a group of flamingos!) at the habitat, which has wading pools and nesting islands. The zoo is home to two species of flamingos, and you can tell them apart by the color of their feathers. The American ones that have the brighter pink feathers and are from coastal Caribbean areas like the Bahamas, Cuba, and Mexico’s Yucatan Peninsula. Meanwhile, the Chilean flamingos’ feathers are white to light pink, and they're from the Andean regions of Chile,
Argentina, Peru, and
Brazil. Since the Denver Zoo is a conservation organization, it participates in conservation projects around the world in addition to caring for the more than 3,000 animals at the zoo. One of the projects that the zoo is involved in centers on improving the habitat at Lake Junin, an aquatic home for flamingos and other species in central Peru. A flamingo at the Denver Zoo. The lake is contaminated with heavy metals because of local mining operations, according to the zoo, and the water levels fluctuate because it is tapped for hydroelectric power generation. Conservation experts suspect that these factors, along with illegal hunting, are the reason why the flamingo population in the region is declining. The zoo has teamed up with the Peruvian non-profit ECOAN and Junin National Reserve to conduct a flamingo census and also come up with strategies for preserving their habitat. Doesn’t that just make you want to hug a flamingo?