A wild lesser flamingo seems to be a “true ambassador” of its species.
It was rehabilitated alongside others rescued from the almost dried-up Kamfers Dam outside Kimberley three years ago.
Once released in July 2019, it moved to Gqeberha. It returned to Kamfers Dam for five months before going back to Gqeberha, and again flew towards Kimberley two weeks ago.
It remains to be seen if the bird, currently in the Bultfontein area, will fly to Botswana.
According to Dr Doug Harebottle, acting director of the Risk and Vulnerability Science Centre at the Sol Plaatje University, the movement of this bird gives a glimpse into how flamingos utilise the landscape in the region.
This bird was rescued in Schweizer-Reneke and brought to Kimberley where Dr Donovan Smith, veterinarian, rehabilitated it.
A tracking device was fitted to the bird before its release on Kamfers Dam in 2019. It was ringed with the number 0001 to identify it.
The bird has since spent the last 18 months feeding at various salt pans, including Tankatara in the Eastern Cape.
“On 19 January 2022, at around 19:00, it departed from Tankatara and headed northwards, arriving at a farm dam just south of Koffiefontein at around 05:00. It spent the day on the dam, resting and feeding, before heading towards Kimberley at around 20:00. Just south of Kimberley it turned a sharp 90 degrees and headed northeast, arriving at a farm dam south of Bultfontein.
“I’m continually fascinated by these movements. I thought the bird had settled in the Eastern Cape,” Harebottle says.
“This is not one of the rehabilitated birds from Kamfers Dam, but a wild bird that was found injured close by and brought to Kimberley at the same time the rescue and rehabilitation operation of young flamingos was underway. It was a perfect opportunity to fit a tracking device to a wild bird.”
He is intrigued by the possibility that the bird might leave South Africa and fly to Botswana.
“Is the bird, together with others, perhaps heading to Botswana and the Sua Pan in the Makgadikgadi region to breed? We will be watching its movements closely.”
