The birds are being hand-reared by volunteers as months of dry weather threatens breeding ground

This article is more than 1 year old

This article is more than 1 year old

Under warming red light at a rescue centre in Cape Town baby flamingos are fed, weighed and cared for. The chicks are among 2,000 that were rescued after they were abandoned by their parents as dam waters dried up in South Africa.

A special airlift for thousands of baby flamingos is under way in South Africa as drought has put their breeding ground in peril, with a reservoir that hosts one of southern Africa’s largest flamingo populations drying up.

Nicky Stander, rehabilitation manager at the Southern African Foundation for the Conservation of Coastal Birds in Cape Town (SANCCOB), said her team swung into action when news of the abandoned birds broke last month.

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“We rehabilitate, that’s our business, and with the aim of releasing back into the wild. We have very large facilities here that were built last year. And we thought we were the best people to contribute to this project,” said Stander.

“As time goes on and they grow, we are going have to adapt the way that we house them and make sure that they have long running space so they can exercise their legs.”

South Africa has faced an extended period of severe drought, with the government announcing “day zero” – a moment when dam levels would be so low that they would turn off the taps in Cape Town and send people to communal water collection points.

This apocalyptic notion prompted water stockpiling and panic, but also led to a dramatic reduction in per capita water usage and day zero was eventually averted. But the impacts of the drought are still being felt.

Facebook Twitter Pinterest Rescued flamingo chicks have access to water at a centre after being rescued from a dried out dam in Kimberley, South Africa. Photograph: AP

The relocation by air of 2,000 chicks from Kamfers Dam in the Northern Cape province to several locations including Cape Town – a journey of 950 km (590 miles) – has attracted public attention in South Africa. But some conservation experts have questioned the decision to intervene.

“These endearing little birds were apparently left stranded and dying by their parents as the waters of the dam dried up,” said Mark Anderson, CEO of BirdLife South Africa.

“[But] was the decision to step in and remove the abandoned chicks and eggs the right one? Who made this decision, under what authority and in terms of what expertise?”

At SANCCOB, volunteer Leslie Ernst says they are determined to do their best for the rescued chicks.

“They’re super delicate-feeling. Every time I go to bed I still feel them in my hands,” she said. “I think we all feel very motherly towards them all.”