ONE of two flamingos that escaped from a Kansas zoo in the United States during a storm 17 years ago has been spotted on the coast of Texas, wildlife officials said.

The Coastal Fisheries division of Texas Parks and Wildlife said that the flamingo — known as No. 492 — was captured on a video shot by an environmental activist near Port Lavaca, Texas, at Rhodes Point in Cox Bay. Officials were able to make out the bird’s leg band on the video.

The bird and another flamingo escaped from the Sedgwick County Zoo in Wichita on a stormy night in June 2005. Employees had not yet clipped the birds’ wings to prevent them from flying, which facilitated their escape.

While the other flamingo was never seen again, No. 492 has been spotted several times in Wisconsin, Louisiana and Texas, sometimes with other wild flamingos. Officials said it had been a year or two since the bird was last seen in Texas.

Zoo officials have never made plans to recapture No. 492, despite the sightings, saying there is no easy way to do so without disturbing other wildlife.

The missing flamingos were born in Africa and shipped to the Kansas zoo in 2004 with 39 other flamingos.(SD-Agencies)