Lesser flamingos have started breeding on a specially constructed artificial island at the Kamfers Dam, the Northern Cape department of tourism, environment and conservation said on Monday.
A departmental ornithologist, Mark Anderson, said the breeding flamingos at Kamfers Dam are of historic significance because it is only the sixth breeding locality in the world for the near-threatened bird species.
The construction of the flamingo island at Kamfers Dam, a large, permanent wetland area north of Kimberley, was proposed by Anderson and he has been responsible for managing the project.
More than 500 young flamingos have hatched with thousands more still to hatch, he said.
This is the first time that lesser flamingos have successfully bred in South Africa and the first time that they have bred on an artificial island.
The birds breed at Etosha Pan (Namibia), Sua Pan (Botswana) and Lake Natron (Tanzania), as well as at the Zinzuwadia and Purabcheria salt pans in north-western India, and now at the Kamfers Dam.
Lesser flamingos do not breed annually at the five other sites in Africa and India, mainly because these are only irregularly inundated during periods of good rainfall. They only breed infrequently at some sites, such as at the Etosha Pan in Namibia.
The lesser flamingo was classified as ”near threatened” in the 2006 World Conservation Union’s Red List of Threatened Species, said Anderson.
The S-shaped island measures 250m by 25m. The third of its type in the world, it was built by Ekapa Mining. A submersed pump, powered by three solar panels, provides water for four ponds on the island, and ensures wet clay that the flamingos use to construct their nest turrets. — Sapa