Orphaned Baby Flamingo Gets Designer Booties Made for Walking

These booties were made for walking. Blue felt booties have been specially designed for Squish, a two and a half-month-old orphaned flamingo chick who lives at Jurong Bird Park in Singapore. The specially designed boots were made to protect his fragile baby feet on hot concrete surfaces as he takes his first steps.

Wildlife Reserves Singapore (WRS), which owns the bird park, posted an adorable video on their Facebook page which received over 17,000 views (as of press) of Squish as he flaunts his new footwear.

They wrote, “Squish loves flaunting those shiny blue shoes! This adorable ball of grey has been the subject of much love and pampering – human carers even custom made Squish a fancy pair of shoes for his daily exercise.”

In the video the caretaker can be seen putting blue felt booties onto the orphaned flamingo “to protect his developing feet.” Squish takes off at a sprint following after him around the bend. He is still a baby so he peters out quickly and plops into an adorable squat.

The video also comes complete with bootie “bloopers” showing Squish getting used to his shoes, which keep falling off. At one point he trips over them and splatters out like a turkey.

Jurong Bird Park is the largest bird park in the world, offering a haven for 8,000 birds representing 600 species including Squish. Squish came from an abandoned egg the keepers found and incubated at the park’s Breeding and Research Centre.

Since hatching he has been raised on a special formula that resembles flamingo milk.

His daily walks are needed to strengthen his long-legged bird bones so one day he can be set free.

“When his feet are okay, we will send him back into the flock and hopefully he will be able to integrate with them,” Jurong Bird Park animal care officer Gerard Wan told Channel News Asia.