Flamingo Foster Parents

Record-breaking heat in Europe earlier this summer led to a wildlife surprise. A flock of rare Andean flamingos at a nature reserve in England laid eggs for the first time in 15 years.

The species is native to a hot and humid region in South America that stretches across parts of Argentina, Bolivia, Chile, and Peru. Experts say the unusually high temperatures in Europe may have reminded the birds of their natural tropical habitat—which is the ideal environment for them to breed.

Six of the flamingos laid a total of nine eggs. Unfortunately, none of them hatched. But wildlife conservationists want the captive Andean flamingos to lay more eggs because the pale-pink birds are at risk of extinction. The International Union for Conservation of Nature estimates that fewer than 40,000 of the exotic birds are left, partly because of habitat loss.

To encourage the birds to continue laying eggs, workers at the reserve hatched a plan of their own. They took a few eggs from Chilean flamingos—which are near relatives of the Andean species—and placed them among the Andean birds. When those eggs hatched, the adult flamingos became adoptive mothers and fathers to the new chicks.

“It’s great motivation,” Mark Roberts, a manager at the nature reserve, told reporters. “And [it’s] enriching for the birds.”