2,000 baby flamingos rescued after being abandoned in South African drought

The birds are being hand-reared by volunteers as months of dry weather threatens breeding ground

Guardian staff and agencies
Wed 6 Feb 2019 21.49 EST

Under warming red light at a rescue centre in Cape Town baby flamingos are fed, weighed and cared for. The chicks are among 2,000 that were rescued after they were abandoned by their parents as dam waters dried up in South Africa.

A special airlift for thousands of baby flamingos is under way in South Africa as drought has put their breeding ground in peril, with a reservoir that hosts one of southern Africa’s largest flamingo populations drying up.

Nicky Stander, rehabilitation manager at the Southern African Foundation for the Conservation of Coastal Birds in Cape Town (SANCCOB), said her team swung into action when news of the abandoned birds broke last month.

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South Africa has faced an extended period of severe drought, with the government announcing “day zero” – a moment when dam levels would be so low that they would turn off the taps in Cape Town and send people to communal water collection points.

More:
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2019/feb/07/2000-baby-flamingos-rescued-after-being-abandoned-in-south-african-drought