(CNN) Thousands of flamingo chicks have been airlifted from their dried-out habitat in northern South Africa in a desperate attempt to save them.

Around 2,000 Lesser Flamingo juveniles were rescued from the Kamfers Dam near Kimberley at the end of January, after their parents abandoned them following a significant drop in the dam's water levels brought on by drought conditions in the northern Cape.

The Southern African Foundation for the Conservation of Coastal Birds (SANCCOB), one of the organizations caring for the chicks, has been canvassing for donations of food and cash, and volunteers to hand-feed the stricken birds.

Rescued chicks rest under the red light of an incubator early in their rehabilitation.

Katta Ludynia, the research manager at SANCCOB, said that around 550 birds were transported to the foundation's Cape Town facility by car and by plane.

On #WorldWetlandsDay the rescued #kamfersdam #FlamingoChicks are getting access to water baths to bath & preen and learn to eat & drink to eventually reduce hand-feeds. Daily improvement. Donate at https://t.co/jaYTcsj15O for meds & rehab. Weak chicks in high-care @CapeNature1 pic.twitter.com/Dse7c85b7v — SANCCOB (@SANCCOB) February 2, 2019

"These chicks arrived in a very bad condition since a lot of them were dehydrated, they were tiny -- some of them were just coming out of their eggs -- so we had a little bit of a problem with infections.

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