Zoo releases photos of flamingo cancer treatment [Video]

A South Carolina zoo released photos Friday of something out-of-the-ordinary for most humans, much less a beautiful bird.The photos from the Greenville Zoo show a flamingo undergoing a CT scan and laser treatment for cancer, officials said.Zoo officials said the Chilean flamingo was diagnosed several months ago by experts at Upstate Vet, on Woods Lake Road, with squamous cell carcinoma, a type of skin cancer, on its right wing. They said he received multiple rounds of laser therapy to shrink the tumor and underwent surgery to remove the remaining tumor tissue. “Thanks to the hard work of our keeper team, vet staff and our friends at Upstate Vet, the wing has healed with no sign of the tumor,” zoo officials said. They said the keeper team will monitor the flamingo as he “gets reacquainted with his lagoon and feathered friends.”He’ll receive regular checkups to ensure he remains cancer-free, officials said.