Bbc

Rare pink pigeon baby hand-reared at zoo

C.Wright28 min ago
If you are a fan of birds and the colour pink, then this one is sure to put you in a flappy mood.

A zoo in the south of England has hand-reared a rare baby pink pigeon for the first time.

The species can only be found in the wild in Mauritius, which is a country in East Africa, but they are considered vulnerable to extinction by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN).

It was once thought that their numbers in the wild were as low as nine in 1991, but since then they have been boosted thanks to conservation efforts like those seen at Paignton Zoo.

Tom Tooley, who works as a bird keeper at the zoo, came up with a special technique for hand-rearing baby birds that have been abandoned or orphaned by their parents.

He's been teaching this technique to others so they can help the rare birds too.

Tom says his technique allows the baby pigeons, which are known as squabs, to "naturally consume" their food.

People working for the Mauritian Wildlife Foundation (MWF), that help protect the country's threatened plants and birds including the pink pigeon, have been getting help from Tom since 2014.

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