After 13 years of freedom, a runaway Pink Flamingo has been returned to the Bermuda Aquarium, Museum, and Zoo after a desperate rescue in Warwick Pond on Sunday night.

`Floyd' had to be dragged exhausted from the water after its legs became entangled in yards of kite string Bird watcher David Wallace raised the alarm after visiting the pond at about dusk. He soon became concerned at the bird's behaviour and went to the nearby Ettrick Animal Hospital to summon help.

A joint operation between veterinarians from Ettrick, bird watchers from the Bermuda Audubon Society and the BAMZ was launched to save the bird.

Audubon Society President Andrew Dobson and Dr. Andrew Madeiros started a search for a small boat to get them to the middle of the pond -- which was a struggle in itself.

Floyd rescued Within an hour of the find, they had pulled the exhausted bird into the boat.

Synthetic kite string had become wrapped around Floyd's legs along with a mud and weed-coated cloth kite, totalling about 40 feet in length, which had caused the bird to nearly drown.

The bird was treated at the animal hospital by Dr. Darren Glanville and BAMZ Head Aquarist, Jennifer Gray.

It was then taken back to the BMAZ, where it had originally escaped along with 12 others during Hurricane Emily in September 1987.

Eleven of the escapees were quickly recaptured but Floyd and a second bird -- who died last year at Spittal Pond -- managed to avoid re-capture.

In recent months the bird seemingly became restless, flying between Spittal Pond, Warwick Pond and other ponds and marshes in search of food.

Normally the BAMZ compound's small diameter prevents the flamingos from escaping but the zoo's keepers believe the stiff winds helped them to escape that morning.

Dr. Madeiros said of the rescue: "I borrowed my landlord's -- Dr. Thomas James -- punt and we paddled out to grab him.

"About six feet was wrapped around his leg and he was dragging the rest through the water. Fortunately it had not cut off the circulation. Once he dried out he was quite strong and pecking at us. He's doing fine.'' He added: "Obviously this is a good example of the type of problem that animals in the wild can get into. That type of string is not degradable and lasts a very long, long time.'' Dr. Madeiros encouraged the public to be more careful when flying kites, particularly in retrieving the string.

"My biggest fear on Sunday was the fact there is only eight inches of water and deep mud,'' he added. "There were two of us and we had problems staying out of the mud. I thought we would have to be rescued too!'' Ms Gray commented: There have been a number of concerned calls from the public this week regarding the flamingo.

"It has been wandering away from the pond dangerously close to traffic on Middle Road, so its capture may be for its own good.'' Adding his voice to concern over the use of synthetic kite string is Andrew Dobson who said: "This incident highlights the need for the general public to be more responsible when flying kites.

"Birds become victims of discarded kite strings every year because people are too lazy to retrieve kites or cut the string from kites that are tangled in trees,'' he explained.

"Kites that come down in ponds are a particular hazard because the string can snare herons, egrets and wildfowl. The flamingo was dragging a large cloth-made kite that would have taken years to decompose.

BAMZ Head Zookeeper, Zoey Roberts, expressed delight at having the bird back safely within the exhibit at BAMZ.

"There had been many calls for us to release another bird to keep this one company,'' she said. "However, our concern for the safety of these rare animals kept us from doing so.

"Although this story has a happy ending, it does demonstrate one of the many risks that wild animals face in heavily populated areas such as Bermuda.

"We thought it was a male but judging by its size we think it's female. When it arrived we just released it. It went right amongst the flock.'' Floyd was named earlier this year by the Bermuda National Trust who had adapted it as a mascot.

Death trap: Audubon Society president Andrew Dobson, above left, and Ettrick Animal Hospital's Dr. Andrew Madeiros examine the mass of kite string and large cloth kite which were found snagged around the wild flamingo's leg at Warwick Pond.

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