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Same-Sex Flamingo Couple Freddie Mercury and Lance Bass 'No Longer a Pair,' Denver Zoo Reveals

Flamingos
Flamingos

Denver Zoo/Twitter

Freddie Mercury and Lance Bass, a famous same-sex Chilean flamingo couple at the Denver Zoo, are no longer an item, according to the Colorado facility.

On June 23, the Denver Zoo shared a Pride Month post on Facebook highlighting the zoo's "fabulous flockstars, our Chilean and American flamingos."

"Flamingos are extremely social by nature and flocks consist of collections of partnerships. This includes not only male-female breeding pairs, but also strong bonds between same-sex pairs," the post added.

The post also mentioned Denver Zoo's famed same-sex flamingo couple, Freddie Mercury and Lance Bass, who made headlines for acting as "surrogate parents if a breeding pair was unable to raise their chick."

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"While our famed, same-sex couple Chilean flamingo Lance Bass and American flamingo Freddie Mercury are no longer a pair, they were paired up for several years," the zoo wrote, adding, "Our flock is 75 birds strong, which allows our birds to flamingle with a variety of individuals and personalities, giving them many options on who to form associations with."

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The news of Freddie Mercury and Lance Bass' uncoupling must've caused a stir among the Denver Zoo's followers because the zoo followed up with more information about the flamingo couple's break up on June 24.

"It seems like our flamingo post yesterday may have ruffled some feathers and we want to sincerely apologize...for leaving everyone in the dark so long as to why our same-sex flamingo pair Freddie Mercury and Lance Bass split up!" the zoo shared on social media, along with a photo of the former flames. "Please rest assured that both Freddie and Lance are in good health, weren't separated and their break up was amicable. Mating for life isn't necessarily true for all birds, and our keepers have noticed that some birds in long-term relationships sometimes decide to move on and pair up with other birds."

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"Freddie repaired with Iommi, one of our fourteen-year-old female American flamingos. Iommi has been around Freddie for nearly her entire life without any indication of a bond before, so keepers aren't exactly sure why these two decided to pair up. As for Lance, keepers haven't noticed him in a new concrete bond with anyone else at the moment," the follow-up post added.

The zoo once again called attention to the flamingo's social nature and how the facility's 75 flamingo flock allows the Denver Zoo's birds to "choose who they decide to form associations."

"Flamingos are incredibly social animals that form unique and intricate bonds. Some birds are in male-female breeding pairs. Some birds are in same-sex bonded pairs. Some birds are mated pairs their whole lives, some will have multiple partners in their lifetime and others won't have a mate at all," the Denver Zoo added of flamingo mating habits.