Conservationists and scientists have indicated the probable extinction of Flamingos and other water birds due to climate change, habitat degradation, and rising water levels.
According to the experts, the birds face the threat of extinction due to human-induced actions like the pollution of wetlands which worsen the situation for the birds.
East African states are signatories to international treaties on the protection of migratory species, among them the protection of flamingos as a stabilizer of ecosystems and sustenance for tourism.
According to Kenya Wildlife Service senior researcher Joseph Edebe, increased volumes of water at Lake Nakuru and Bogoria have destroyed large portions of the birds’ habitats, leading to a decline in their numbers.
These erratic weather patterns have had a major impact on flamingos’ migration from Tanzania and Kenya and the increase in water levels has interfered with the alkalinity levels of the lake hence a low production of blue-green algae that flamingos feed on.
In 2017, the Status of Key Biodiversity Areas report said that the overall status of the sites, which included major flamingo feeding sites, was unfavorable. Lakes Nakuru and Bogoria were among the 38 sites that recorded unfavorable status during the monitoring period.
“Flamingos are not adapted to wading in deep waters and as the lakes swell, they relocate to shallow ends, which sometimes are too bushy, or they search for other spots,” Edebe said.
In 2021, reports indicate that hundreds of flamingos were stuck in Mathenge weeds that usually grow on the part of shores of Lake Bogoria which had an estimated 300,000 flamingos.
A January 2021 bird count indicated that there were 6,000 flamingos in Lake Nakuru, with an additional 4,000 birds recorded within sewerage treatment ponds nearby – a sharp decline from an estimate of 850,000 in the year 2000.
The rise in water levels has been of major impact on the breeding and population curve, as evident from the BirdLife International show, there was a decline in numbers between 2018-2021.
According to KWS senior warden Caroline Mwebia, other than flamingos, bird species threatened with extinction at Lake Nakuru National Park and bird sanctuary include the gray crowned crane, white-barked vulture, and Rueppell’s griffon Mwebia said.
Abyssinian thrush, white-headed vulture, lappet-faced vulture, greater spotted eagle, and imperial eagle are now also considered vulnerable.
“The challenges facing the birds have been aggravated by the fluctuation of lake water levels. Maccoa duck, lesser flamingo, black-tailed godwit, great Snipe, bateleur, crowned eagle, pallid harrier, European roller, sooty falcon, and gray-crested helmet shrike have also been classified as near-threatened species,” she added.
Researchers and conservationists now call on the government to protect wetlands in collaboration with communities and avert the encroachment issue by people who keep erecting buildings, and polluting environments.