/ 21 February 2000

KENYAN FLAMINGOS DYING

A MYSTERIOUS disease has killed hundreds of flamingos at Lake Nakuru and Bogoria National Parks, in Kenya’s Rift-Valley province, over the past few months. The Kenya Wildlife Service said the infection has greatly reduced the number of the famous coloured birds and warned they could be wiped out within the next few weeks if the disease goes unchecked. A bio-diversity officer said that following the El-Nino rains, flamingos at the lake had started dying due to high water levels which affected the growth of algae — their main source of food.