Lake Nakuru
The famous flamingos of Lake Nakuru, Kenya are vanishing. The birds are dying from environmental threats in a shrinking Lake Nakuru, the home that has sheltered them for centuries. Just six years ago as many as 1 million flamingos fed in Nakuru’s water, as few as 30,000 surround the lake’s receding shoreline today. Hundreds of dead flamingos litter newly dried and caked sections of lakebed.
Nakuru, whose recent maximum size was less than 20 square miles, may have lost half its water in the past few years. Why the shallow lake and its flamingo population are shrinking remains a complex question.
The water catchment area around Nakuru has been heavily deforested, and its rivers are running dry. Years of drought have further reduced the water supply. African temperatures are rising. Sewer and industrial runoff from nearby Nakuru pollute the lake. While blue-green algae, the flamingos’ food has diminished.
Toxic urban runoff becomes more concentrated in less water, and many flamingos have developed sores on their legs because of the pollutants. The shallowness of many Rift Valley lakes makes them vulnerable as temperatures rise and more water evaporates. Lake Nakuru is slowly pulling back toward its center, leaving a whitish, salt-encrusted rim several hundred yards wide at some points.
November 17, 2006 7:13 AM | Category: Global Warming