Heartwarming moment flight attendant who helped save six rare flamingo eggs meets baby chicks at Seattle Zoo

• Amber May, an Alaska Airlines flight attendant, saved the lives of six unhatched Chilean flamingo eggs 
• The incubator the zoo employee brought on the plane broke and May rushed into action with an improvised plan to keep the baby’s warm 
• All six birds hatched in September and May, along with her granddaughter, were invited to personally meet them 

An Alaskan Airlines flight attendant who helped save six rare Chilean flamingo eggs recently got the chance to meet the babies at the zoo.

Amber May first met the unborn flamingos during a flight from the Atlanta zoo to Seattle last summer when a passenger requested help with the eggs.

The passenger, an unnamed zoo employee, told May she had to keep the eggs warm after the incubator she was traveling with stopped working.

The flight attendant then rushed into action as she filled multiple rubber gloves with warm water and handed them to the passenger who wrapped the eggs in a makeshift nest to keep them warm for the five-hour flight.

Months later, May received a heartwarming call from Seattle’s Woodland Park Zoo, where officials invited her and her infant granddaughter, Sunny, to meet the six baby flamingos that hatched in September.

‘We’re so thankful for her quick thinking and kindness, as well as the compassion of other passengers who also stepped in to help,’ Gigi Allianic, the zoo’s communications manager, said in a statement.

Amber May, an Alaska Airlines flight attendant, saved the lives of six unhatched Chilean flamingo eggs and was able to meet them at Seattle’s Woodland Park Zoo with her granddaughter

May assisted a passenger, an employee from the Seattle Zoo transporting the eggs from Atlanta, after the incubator broke to keep the eggs warm

Two out of the six baby Chilean flamingos are seen frolicking around. The zoo hopes that the new birds will help maintain a population for the near-threatened creatures

‘This means the world to our zoo family. They would have been lost if you hadn’t gone above and beyond for us.’

The hatching was the fist that the zoo has seen since 2016, according to Alaska Airlines.

May was offered the chance to meet and name one of the baby’s in November. She soon decided that her granddaughter’s name would be the perfect fit.

The names of the baby flamingos that brought the zoo’s flock to 49 are: Magdalena, Rosales, Gonzo, Amaya, Bernardo and Sunny.

‘Having baby Sunny meet flamingo Sunny was just wonderful. I am excited to see them both grow up,’ May told The Washington Post.

The birth of the new flamingos has also given hope to the zoo’s community as their existence should help improve reproductive rates as their current birds are too old to lay eggs.

One of the baby birds is seen being fed by zoo employee. The names of the baby flamingos that brought the zoo’s flock to 49 are: Magdalena, Rosales, Gonzo, Amaya, Bernardo and Sunny

The zoo allowed May to name one of the birds. She went on to choose her granddaughter’s name, Sunny, who was there with her to meet the baby’s her grandmother saved

‘We definitely have an aging flock where half of the birds are at least 47 years old,’ Craig Newberry, another spokesperson for the Seattle zoo said.

Newberry added the average lifespan of a flamingo is 20 to 30 years, but that some have lived for 50 years. He went on to say that Chilean flamingos in particular are a near-threatened species.

‘Loss of habitat is their major threat, and they’re also threatened by pollution, hunting and tourist activity,’ Newberry said.

The flamingos’ existence has also been threatened by unregulated tourism and mining, which has directly impacted the birds’ feeding, nesting and breading in the Andean highlands located in Chile.

The illegal egg-collecting trade has also played a role in the decreased population of these birds.

The new flamingos have gone on to join the zoo’s Ambassador Animals program that gives its visitors the chance to see the birds up close. It also allows for people to become more educated on the species and help raise awareness for their existence.

The population of Chilean flamingos have been threatened by unregulated tourism, mining and illegal egg-collecting. They can live for 20 to 30 years, and some can even go to 50

When May and Sunny visited the zoo, they met each new flamingo and learned about the zoo’s Temperature Forest, which mimics a warm South American climate for the birds to thrive in.

The flight attendant also noted she learned that flamingos are not born pink and remain a grayish-white color for multiple years before they become pink from a diet of brine shrimp and algae.

‘Sunny really seemed to enjoy meeting the chicks– I hope to take her back as often as possible as she grows up,’ May said.

All six flamingos and the rest of the flock can be met by visitors at the Woodland Park Zoo.

‘I was happy to help,’ May said.

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