Kamfers Dam, less than 10km from Kimberley’s famous Big Hole, has been a hive of activity since Thursday last week when an operation to rescue thousands of abandoned baby flamingo chicks began.
This Northern Cape dam is one of only four breeding grounds in Africa for the lesser flamingo however according to SA People News, ‘due largely to failing infrastructure, there has been a lack of water pumped into the dam by the Sol Plaatjie municipality. The dam has become too shallow and moms are leaving their chicks to go to the water.’
This has left around a thousand starving and dehydrated hatchlings. A community effort to rescue the chicks has been organised by Saam Staan Kimberley and thanks to volunteers from all over the Diamond City numerous boxes of chicks have been moved to the Kimberley SPCA where the babies are being fed and cared for.
‘The parents are not able to feed and protect the chicks as they normally would. It’s actually a big problem as the water level is dropping everyday,’ says Craig van Rensburg, an administrator of community organisation Saam Staan Kimberley.
On Friday Saam Staan Kimberly reported that there were about 60 volunteers helping on the various sites and this number is expected to grow with more chicks being brought in throughout the day. Once the chicks are stable, they will be moved to various rehabilitation sites across South Africa.
The latest update posted on Saam Staan Kimberley’s Facebook page indicates that the chicks are happy and healthy ‘Chicks are doing very well, we will be starting with obtaining permits where we can start with the process of relocating the chicks to rehabilitation centres across the country, in the morning.
Thank you for all the support, not only from the local community but from all over the world!’
The community organisation and Kimberly SPCA will be meeting with the Department of Environmental Affairs and Nature Conversation today to finalise the relevant export permits necessary for transporting of the birds. The Department is monitoring the project strictly, as the lesser famingo is an endangered species. According to Saam Staan Kimberley ‘No chick may be placed into anyone’s care without the prior approval from the Department.’
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