- NAKURU, Kenya (ENS) - Veterinary
pathologists in Kenya have identified heavy metals as the leading cause
of massive deaths of flamingos in two Rift Valley Lakes of Kenya, and warned
that the scenic pink birds of Lakes Nakuru and Bogoria remain threatened
unless the lakes are cleared of pollutants.
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- "The presence of heavy metals in the birds tissue
is alarming," cautioned Dr. Gideon Motelin, a veterinary pathologist
at Egerton University who last month conducted a three-day fact finding
mission in the two lakes.
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- Motelin is leading Kenyan researcher on flamingos. The
Kenya Wildlife Service (KWS) acknowledges that Lake Bogoria is the "worst
affected" but gave no data on the number of birds that have died.
Journalists have counted hundreds of birds' carcasses littering the shores
of both lakes.
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- But the wildlife agency played down pollution as the
cause of deaths. "If it's a question of pollution, why is it affecting
both Lakes. We could understand if it was only in Nakuru but Bogoria is
far away from industries," said Daniel Njaga, a communications officer
at KWS.
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- Flamingos at Lake Nakuru have numbered above one million.
(Photo courtesy Kenya Wildlife Service) A preliminary report released by
Dr. Motelin and Dr. Ramesh Thampy, a World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) Rift
Valley lakes specialist, says, "Detectable levels of lead, zinc, mercury,
copper, and arsenic have been found in the birds' tissues and this threatens
the very existence of the flamingos."
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- A group of scientists have been camping on the shores
of Lake Bogoria assessing the situation and brainstorming on how to conserve
it as a wetland site. But it is the continuing death of flamingos that
kept the entire team on its toes.
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- "We are concerned because this could be a catastrophe,"
said Motelin. The concentration of individual elements may not be high
enough to cause death he explained that "combinations of poisons could
cause death as they affect different sensitive organs of the body."
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- "Some of the birds had lesions in the spleen and
others in the kidney. The lesions suggest toxicosis as the cause of death
and incapacity," Dr. Motelin explained. "If we are to arrest
the situation, pollution has to cease."
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- Experts warn that the level of pollution in Kenyan lakes
is growing due to collapse of sewage works in many urban centers and growth
of industries whose effluent flow into the lakes. The rise of horticultural
farms along most of the Rift Valley lakes have also caused fertilizers
to run off into the lakes.
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- Dr. Motelin said cadmium, a metal found in the birds'
tissues, as "dangerous as it replaces calcium in the bones making
them brittle."
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- "This may be one of the reasons why birds are finding
it difficult to co-ordinate in the water. The birds have become weak and
cannot manage to migrate from different lakes without succumbing,"
said Dr. Thampy.
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- Flamingos can fly up to 300 kilometers in a day, and
researchers also think the deaths could be as a result of "flying
stress" Dr. Thampy says that the clinical signs of the current birds
resemble episodes in 1993, 1995 and 2000 when similar deaths occurred.
He said the current deaths began mid-May this year.
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- Lake Nakuru is four kilometers from the population center
of Nakuru. (Photo by Javier Gómez García courtesy <http://www.kenyalogy.comKenyalogy)
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- "The deaths subsided in early June only to resurface
later," said Dr. Thampy. "Though the death records are not as
high as in the previous years, stakeholders in the sector have to come
up with a solution."
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- The preliminary report indicates that migration and breeding,
plus organochlorines are other cause of deaths. Although Kenya Wildlife
Society dismisses the allegation of pollution as the cause of death, Dr.
Motelin believes the birds ingested toxic chemicals at the Nakuru Lake.
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- Organochlorines find their way into Lake Nakuru through
water systems from nearby farms, which use large quantities of fertilizers,
pesticides and agrochemicals.
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- Compared to Lake Nakuru, the 290 square kilometer Lake
Bogoria is in a comparatively clean condition and is away from industrial
pollutants. The flamingos fly the 60 kilometer distance between the two
lakes regularly.
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- Organochlorines discovered in flamingo body tissues can
enter Lake Bogoria through River Sandai, which passes through farmlands
in Laikipia district. The toxic chemical DDT, which is banned in Kenya,
is reportedly used in Ethiopia.
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- "It is true that flamingos have a vast home range.
Some of their feeding sites in Ethiopia are close to factories, which could
be discharging harmful effluent," said Montelin.
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- Flamingos at Lake Nakuru are a prime attraction for tourists.
(Photo courtesy <http://www.kerdowneysafari.com/ Ker & Downey Safaris)
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- A recent report by the United Nations Food and Agriculture
Organization FAO warned that Ethiopia's stock of 3,401 tons of obsolete
pesticides continue to contaminate water. The toxic pesticides were stored
in various sites in the country and "are more toxic than they were
in their original state," the FAO report says.
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- The Kenya Wildlife Service defends Lake Nakuru, saying
the lake is not the source of these pollutants. "If that was the case
it should affect other birds and animals that use the lakes as a resource,"
said Njaga. "In Lake Nakuru we have about 400 species of birds including
the terrestrial birds.
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- "Why are the other water birds like the pelicans
and the ducks not affected? And finally, If it is pollution why is it affecting
a small number and only the lesser flamingos?" he asks.
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- The KWS says the situation is environmental, associated
with ecology rather than pollution. Said Njaga, "I would attribute
the cause of the deaths to regular changes in the water volume. Since El
Nino there have been adjustments of water volume that affect water chemistry,
its salinity, productivity, bio-chemical oxygen demand and even nutrients.
When the water volume drops, the level of salinity rises which may render
flamingos' food toxic."
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- Still, this does not ease WWF's concern that if the majestic
birds continue to decline by 20 percent every two decades, "The entire
flamingo population may be wiped out in a 100 years," the group warns.
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Service (ENS) 2001. All Rights Reserved.
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