The James Flamingo lives in high attitude lagoons in the Andes Mountains and when none were seen there they were considered extinct. In 1957 hikers discovered a flock of about 50 James Flamingos in a dark lagoon. This was amazing and now they are just endangered. The other species of flamingos are threatened but have only been put on the list a few years ago. This means we don’t need to start projects to ‘Save the Flamingos’. This is mainly because almost every zoo in the world has flamingos because they are so popular and unique. Also flamingos are always in large flocks so there are always at least 50.
Flamingos are also endangered because of natural causes. Some bacteria in water are poisonous and unfortunately it kills the flamingo. Scientist have so far been unable to figure out exactly what it is but hopefully soon they will find a cure. Another natural cause is that the female flamingo only produce one egg per year.
Lake Nakuru is located in Africa and is home to 1.5 million flamingos and this lake is in drought. It is killing hundreds of flamingos because it has no water. Along with Human Causes this is one of the most critical causes that are killing flamingos. Luckily Kenya Wildlife Services are doing something about it (please see Social Impact for more information).
