Chile's disappearing flamingos

STORY: :: Parquemet

Where are the flamingos in Chile’s Los Flamencos National Reserve going?

Scientists there are turning to technology to try and find out.

:: Guillermo Cubillos, Chilean National Zoo

“In 2023, last year, there were nearly 100 or 150 individuals in our research areas. Today, there aren’t more than 15 or 20 individuals.”

Guillermo Cubillos is the head of the conservation and investigations unit for Chile’s National Zoo.

He says flamingos are "highly sensitive" to anthropic factors like truck noise and are the first to feel the negative effects of their environment.

:: Antofagasta, Chile

Scientists are trapping the long-legged, pink-plumbed birds and attaching satellite transmitters to track their movements.

They hope the information will reveal where they feed, breed, and how they use their environment.

Cubillos says the data will be used to propose conservation sites and direct conservation efforts for the three species of flamingos in the area.

“Threats such as climate change, mining exploitation, in this case, lithium, are a potential direct threat to this species and its habitat. Not only to flamingos but their habitat – high plateau lagoons and Andean high wetlands – are very fragile systems. Any variation in these environments triggers a variation for the being living in them.”