Sept. 27, 2005 — The biggest concern for zookeepers after Hurricane Rita swept through Houston was whether two newborn flamingo chicks would be readmitted to the flock after they were taken to an emergency shelter.

Most of the Houston Zoo's animals were moved inside to protect them against flying debris. Those without sufficiently secure pens found strange bedfellows. The turkeys, geese, chickens and a porcupine were tucked away in two bathrooms. The mane wolves and anteaters were locked into spare rooms in the tiger house.

Aside from one skittish zebra who wailed at anybody who walked by, none of the animals seemed traumatized, said zoo director Rick Barongi.

"If they can handle 20,000 people in a day they can handle a hurricane," he joked. "Screaming kids are much more dangerous — I'd rather take the wind and rain."

Some animals even seemed to enjoy the storm, like a couple of rhinos who were happily trotting around their pen covered in mud.

There were, however, three casualties: two fish and a quetzal chick.

The fish died after the power went out and their water quality couldn't be maintained. But it wouldn't be fair to blame the chick's death on Rita, said communications director Brian Hill.

"The parents had issues," he explained.

Originally aimed straight at this city of two million, Hurricane Rita took a sharp turn to the northeast before losing strength and hitting with significantly less force than forecasted. Winds in Houston didn't get much stronger than about 54 miles per hour and damage across the city was limited to a smattering of broken signs and windows and some downed trees and power lines.

The last minute reprieve made waiting out the storm a lot of fun for the 60 odd zoo employees who stayed behind to care for the animals. Camped out in an auditorium with their dogs, cats, parrots and a few too many Girl Scout cookies, the staff played board games and at one point even set up an obstacle course in the lobby and raced through it on tricycles.

"It was like a slumber party, it was just nuts," Hill said.

A few downed trees and scattered branches kept groundskeepers busy Saturday but also provided a welcome snack for the Houston Zoo's four giraffes, which are particularly fond of leaves.

And the flamingo chicks?

"Everything's back to normal in the world of flamingos," Hill said, adding that zookeepers had decided to name the youngest chick "Rita."

The Houston Zoo, which hosts 1.5 million visitors a year, was expecting to open for regular business hours on Monday. With area schools closed for much of the week, it promised to be a busy one.