June 14 (UPI) — Bird keepers have been trying to capture a Toucan bird spotted at least a half a dozen times since flying from the Flamingo Gardens coop outside Miami Saturday.
The 2-year-old bird, Tiki, had been a popular tourist attraction at Flamingo Gardens, but each time Tiki’s handlers have gotten close they have been unable to capture her.
The Toucan appears to still be in Broward County.
“She’s been spotted probably at least six times within a five-mile radius,” wildlife curator Laura Wyatt of Flamingo Gardens animal sanctuary told Miami Patch after a possible sighting Wednesday. “We’re going out on every call that anybody gives us to try to rescue her.”
Wyatt added that she fears Tiki could now become a target of wild birds of prey.
“She does not have a whole lot of skill of being wild,” Wyatt said.
The sanctuary typically takes in rescued wildlife, but sometimes takes in former house pets, like Tiki, which have no other place to go, Wyatt said. The sanctuary took in Tiki last year after she was purchased by a woman who wanted her as a mate for her male Toucan, but that did not work out.
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