ONE FLAMINGO. A HOME FOR LIFE

Help build a permanent home for Costa Rica's only rescued flamingo

American flamingos don’t belong here. Their home is the Caribbean coast, from Cuba and the Bahamas to the Yucatán. Costa Rica has no salt lagoons or mudflats where they can feed, and no flock for them to join. In June 2025, one was found in Limón, starving, hypothermic and in organ failure. He survived. But he can never return to the wild. Today, he lives in a temporary rehabilitation enclosure that isn't designed for his lifelong needs.

This Giving Tuesday, help us raise $70,000 to build a permanent habitat with a specialized pool, clean, recirculating water and the space he needs to thrive.

Join the Flamboyance

A group of flamingos is called a flamboyance. Join ours

AGAINST THE ODDS

He arrived severely underweight and hypothermic, with liver and kidney failure. After months of intensive treatment and specialized nutrition, he regained weight, his plumage recovered and his condition stabilized.

Then came the hard truth. After evaluation by MINAE, the IUCN Flamingo Specialist Group and our rehabilitation team, he was declared non-releasable. His impaired vision and fragile health mean he will depend on us for life. Today he lives in a temporary enclosure in our rehabilitation area, which is not designed for a flamingo’s needs.

Proposed permanent habitat for JRC's rescued flamingo

WHAT YOUR GIFT BUILDS

We are raising $70,000 for:

  • A secure habitat designed following international flamingo husbandry guidelines (AZA/EAZA/WWT)
  • A pool with a recirculating filtration system that keeps water clean while saving water in a region increasingly hit by drought
  • A separate feeding pool, since flamingos feed by filtering food from water
  • Specialized nutrition, veterinary oversight and daily care
  • A contingency for unexpected construction costs

Built first for him, the habitat is designed to also house other rescued aquatic and wading birds in the future.

DONATE TODAY

HOW YOUR GIFT WILL BE USED

Gifts will first fund the habitat, pools, filtration system, related care and contingency. Any funds above the $70,000 goal, or left over if the project comes in under budget, will support other priority healing spaces through The System Behind Survival: Safe Spaces to Heal.