Flamingo on the lam from Kansas zoo since 2005 spotted in Texas

AUSTIN, Texas — A flamingo that escaped from a Kansas zoo more than a decade ago was spotted in Texas last month.

No. 492, as the flamingo is known, was spotted near Lavaca Bay by a Texas Parks & Wildlife crew.

The wayward bird fled the Sedgwick County Zoo in 2005. The Kansas City Star reports 492 was born in Tanzania and spent time in South Africa before arriving at the zoo in 2004 with 39 fellow flamingos.

The African flamingo made its break after keepers failed to clip its wings, and has been spotted in several states since.

The zoo says 492 is about 23 years old, and is capable of living to 50 or older in the wild.

In 2013, 492 was spotted in Texas for the first time with a companion bird, a smaller, pinker flamingo known as HDNT.