Mass flamingo deaths last year on parched parts of Lake Tuz in central Turkey had prompted concerns about the well-being of the birds already in danger due to climate change. But a count of the birds and projections show the flamingos can safely call Turkey’s second-largest lake home again.
A census shows 1,877 flamingos were born in Lake Tuz in 2021. Officials from the Ministry of Environment, Urban Planning and Climate Change say the lake's flamingo population may increase with the anticipated proper precipitation and the high number of water resources supplying the lake.
Flamingos are among the animals included in the ministry’s program to protect endangered species. Lake Tuz, one of the most crucial wetlands for flamingos to hatch, is designated as a preservation site.
The flamingo population in Turkey makes up about 34% of the entire flamingo population in Europe. The country is among the main destinations and habitats of the birds, along with France and Spain. Up to 71,000 flamingos winter in Turkey every year. They are “semi-migratory” birds and some prefer migrating to other Mediterranean countries while others spend the entire year in Turkey. Flamingos usually stay in the Aegean, Central Anatolia and Mediterranean regions of Turkey though some prefer the Black Sea and Marmara regions. Lake Tuz and Gediz Delta in western Turkey are among the most significant breeding grounds for flamingos.
Lake Tuz, which hosts a diverse array of other birds, was a graveyard of hundreds of baby and adult flamingos last year whose carcasses were found strewn across its dried parts. The mass deaths last summer prompted concerns since Lake Tuz is a sanctuary for most newborn flamingos who learn how to fly over the wetland before leaving in the autumn.
Climate change is the main cause of the drought, which takes its toll on animals relying on mass water resources that are now more in danger of drying up. Although the past season of rainfall and snowfall proved prosperous and revived dried parts of lakes, the danger is still here according to experts, who warn that future dry spells are still a possibility. Along with flamingos, dried water resources caused mass seagull deaths in other lakes across Turkey where temperatures are steadily increasing.
