Kenya's birds under threat
2005-04-19 12:38
Nairobi - Millions of waterfowl, including flamingos and pelicans, are facing death as lakes in Kenya's central Rift Valley dry up due to poor land use policies, wildlife officials said on Monday.
The Kenya Wildlife Service (KWS) said hundreds of species of birds are at risk as their habitats fall victim to deforestation in water catchment areas, the obstruction of key rivers and changing weather patterns.
"If nothing is done, about 1.5 million flamingos - about 10% of world population - and at least 50 000 crater white pelicans will die away," KWS scientist Bernard Kuloba told AFP.
Most threatened are Lakes Nakuru, Naivasha and Elementaita, which are well-known in the safari trade for their spectacular bird populations, but the smaller Rift Valley lakes of Bogoria and Baringo are also at risk, he said.
As many as 500 different species of birds could be affected, Kuloba said.
Farmers damming rivers have caused water levels in Lake Elementaita - a main pelican breeding habitat - to fall while deforestration and water diversion had affected water levels in Lakes Nakuru and Naivasha, he said.
"The level of water evaporating from the lakes is higher than flowing water coming in," he said, adding that flower farming around Lake Naivasha - the only fresh water lake in the valley - was causing particular damage.
Government must save birds
KWS officials said the government has failed to formulate a policy to safeguard the lakes from drying up and called for immediate action to stop the damage.
"We are waiting for a government policy that would give us direction on what to do," one official told AFP on condition of anonymity. "It is up to the government to expedite measure to safe the birds."
Of the three lakes, Lake Nakuru, which became Africa's first bird sanctuary in 1960 and a national park eight years later, is the most affected by receding water levels.
Nakuru, one of several soda lakes in the floor of the Great Rift Valley, and Lake Bogoria are home to the largest number of flamingos in the world.
According to officials, Lake Nakuru has shrunk by roughly 10.4 to 15.5 square kilometres since the 1970s, and, as the water level has dropped, levels of toxic elements like zinc, mercury and copper have all increased.
In the past two years, several thousand flamingos have died as a result of chemical and metallic waste from a nearby industrial belt, they said.