Dragons are creatures with nearly unlimited life spans. They can survive for long periods of time, and no one has found a dragon that has died of old age. Adolescence is usually marked by the growth of a hatchling’s wings, although not all breeds of dragons grow wings and some breeds have other traits that indicate the beginning of maturation. Once they hit adolescence, hatchlings change quickly, maturing to their full forms in only 2 years.

Dragons don’t communicate with each other verbally, but they will growl to scare off predators and frighten prey. Young dragons will emit an extremely high-pitched squeal when they are frightened. To communicate, they use telepathy with each other and to speak to other creatures.

Flamingo wyverns are so named for their resemblance to the tropical birds with whom they often share territory. Their most striking feature is the bony black crest over their faces and snouts, larger in males, aiding both in digging up food and protection when fighting for mates. Males are duller in color than females due to their habit of wandering from nest to nest and picking from less algae-rich feeding grounds.

Makelio is entirely insane! He believes himself to be a different pink animal or object each day, sometimes a flamingo, sometimes a pig, occasionally a woman's dress (the keeper had a difficult time explaining to that female visitor about why Makelio tackled her and insisted on being worn), and so on.  No one likes him because of this. Frankly, all anyone wants to do to him -and perhaps all anyone should ever do to him- is leave him alone.