Colorful Birds of South Africa
African conservationists seem to favor exotic, long necked birds with ostentatious plumage. And since the competition over fragile wetlands on the continent is pretty fierce, local flocks need all the help they can get.
Pink Flamingos
About a million flamingos live and breed around the edges of Lake Natron in northern Tanzania. Lake Natron is rich in salt and other minerals which the flamingos need to survive. But the briny water has also attracted industrialists, who want to build a soda ash processing facility on the lake.
Wildlife conservationists have recently managed to delay building plans for the soda ash plant; at least until further environmental impact studies can be performed. This was no small feat since the company drawing up plans to build the plant is partly owned by the Tanzanian government.
A small number of pink flamingos now call an S shaped artificial island near Kimberley, South Africa home. This man made flamingo habitat shows promise, with more and more chicks hatching every year.
Blue Cranes
Blue Cranes live almost exclusively on the plains of South Africa. Their limited range leaves them particularly vulnerable to human encroachment. A certain number of these birds die every year from things like collisions with power lines and poisoning meant for other animals. Still, the population of Blue Cranes remains fairly stable, thanks to environmental activists like the Endangered Wildlife Trust and the Overberg Crane Group.
The Blue Crane’s status as the national bird of South Africa also helps. South Africans can all be proud of their efforts to defend these magnificent animals.
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