It’s not unusual for flamingos to visit Mumbai. From September to May these birds spend time feeding in the city’s lakes. The number of birds that have flocked to the the capital of Maharashtra state in western India this year, however, is expected to break records.
With the city under lockdown, the lack of human activity has welcomed in a plethora of flamingos.
Tens of thousands of birds have turned a lake in Mumbai into a pink paradise. The birds usually migrate to Mumbai in September and stay until May for feeding, according to Rahul Khot of Bombay Natural History Society (BNHS) who spoke to CNN.
150K flamingos have taken over Mumbai while city is in lockdown.
(Yes, those little dots are all flamingos). pic.twitter.com/0iFwU6twYp— ian bremmer (@ianbremmer) May 1, 2020
In 2019, the number of flamingos recorded was 134,000 but BNHS estimates the number for 2020 will surpass this by the end of the month.
In March of 2020, BNHS counted 125,000 birds, before the country went into lockdown.
‘They are being reported from places where they have earlier been reported less in number because there is no human activity there now,’ Khot said to CNN.
Tens of thousands of flamingos have returned to Mumbai as humans stay home pic.twitter.com/n1bnmRa023
— ༻⋆≺ Martin 🏳️🌈 ≻⋆༺ (@KlatuBaradaNiko) May 5, 2020
Yes flock of flamingos has arrived in North East Mumbai. Shot by dad 📸@manoj_kotak ji’s demand in the parliament should be heard. We need a flamingo sanctuary near Bhandup pumping station.@ijagdishMange @mihirkotecha pic.twitter.com/rDx2zOPIbQ
— Gagan Thengane (@Kintu_Parantu) May 3, 2020
Thousands of flamingos take over deserted Mumbai, creating a sea of pink.
The birds do not usually assemble in such high numbers in this location because of pollution levels. pic.twitter.com/DGLaIqJUzz
— ♑️ NAIDU ✨ (@chmnaidu) May 2, 2020
Record number of flamingos paint Mumbai pink during lockdown – https://t.co/mBdDoyVRfX pic.twitter.com/b1Kc8ofbKM
— Lonely Planet (@lonelyplanet) May 4, 2020
Image: Twitter/ @chmnaidu
