Thousands of flamingos have died at the bottom of Lake Tuz in Turkey in the last two weeks. The cause of death is thought to be due to the drought that hit the lake, possibly due to climate change and improper agricultural irrigation methods.
A large number of the dead were baby flamingos or juveniles, where they were buried in the drying mud. Lake Tuz is home to a large colony of flamingos. Every year, about 10 thousand flamingos are born in this location.
Turkish Agriculture Minister Bekir Pademirli confirmed about a thousand flamingos had died. "With the lack of water and many birds, deaths have befallen the birds that are unable to fly. I would like to emphasize that there is no direct or indirect connection with this incident with irrigation," he said.
Since 2000, Lake Tuz has been in protected status to preserve the flora and fauna there including flamingos. Local environmental activists believe that the phenomenon of climate change is the cause, besides too much water used for irrigation, resulting in drought.
"The water supply to the lake is mostly used for irrigation, although it is needed to get to Lake Tuz. (Yet) water does not come," said Fahri Tunc, an environmental activist.
He says only about 5,000 flamingo eggs have hatched this year, a much lower number than before. Meanwhile, the surviving baby flamingo eventually died due to the drought that hit the place.
Usually pink flamingos gather in this place and drink plenty of lake water. But the severe drought kept them away leaving the dead babies scattered.
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