Flamingo Returns to Oklahoma City Zoo Flock with New Leg Brace After 4 Months at Animal Hospital
Merry the flamingo is on the mend!
Nearly four months after the American flamingo was admitted into the Joan Kirkpatrick Animal Hospital at the Oklahoma City Zoo, Merry has returned to her flock, the zoo announced last week.
Though Merry is back in her habitat, she is still sporting a leg brace on her right leg. The brace needed to be modified, as the habitat is a very different setting from her stall at the hospital.
“After brainstorming, the vet team invented a unique approach to modify her brace for the habitat – made of waterproof swimmers tape and wetsuit material, which works to provide extra support for her injured ligament as her weight shifts back-and-forth, when navigating the flamingo habitat,” the zoo explained.
“Merry will continue to wear her brace on a long-term or indefinite basis,” the zoo added, explaining that ligaments heal slowly.
“This healthcare plan provides her with an excellent quality of life, while also enabling her to be a full-time member of her flock,” the zoo added.
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In June, Merry was taken to the hospital after zookeepers noticed that she was avoiding using her right leg. While the veterinarians didn’t find any broken bones, they did notice swelling in her ankle, and she was placed in a splint.
“Because there are no broken bones, we’re not terribly concerned about any long-term damage. Ankle injuries in flamingos are quite common,” one of the zoo’s vet technicians said in an Instagram Stories Highlight from the zoo’s account in June.
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While Merry was on “stall rest,” she was “responding well to her daily treatments” and was “reunited with her mate” while she spent time healing. Her mate has also returned to the flock with Merry, the zoo said.
While at the hospital, Merry also received “regular therapeutic laser treatments to accelerate the healing process while under observation.”
“Merry will continue to be monitored by her caretakers regularly,” the zoo said in a Facebook post on Sunday.
Guests can now see Merry with her fellow pink friends at the zoo!
