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SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico (AP) -- Thousands of pink flamingos in the Bahamas emerged unscathed from Hurricane Ike's direct hit on their breeding colony, the warden of Great Inagua island's national park said Monday.
Warden Henry Nixon said he saw a few dead birds on his first visit to the park since Ike pounded the island with 135 mph (217 kph) winds Sunday, but the vast majority apparently found shelter in coves and behind mangrove trees.
"The flamingos are doing fine. There are thousands of them all over the place," Nixon told The Associated Press. He said the mangrove clusters the birds use for protection were also still intact.
The national park covers nearly half the 600-square-mile (1,550-square kilometer) island in the southeastern Bahamas and with roughly 50,000 West Indian flamingos, it claims the largest breeding colony in the world.
The park was established in 1965 and has helped reverse a decline in the flamingo population from hunting and development.
Some birds may have survived by flying to nearby islands, said Lynn Gape, deputy director of the Bahamas National Trust.
"Birds are very sensitive to barometric pressure," she said.
Bahamas Prime Minister Hubert Ingraham was planning a visit to assess the damage in Great Inagua, which is home to about 1,000 people.
The storm tore the roofs of homes and toppled trees and utility poles but no deaths or injuries were reported.
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