All About Animals

There are to main threats to andean flamingos and they are mining and human disturbances. Mining activities, unfavourable water-levels, erosion of nest-sites and human disturbance may also affect productivity. Outside protected areas in Bolivia, there is a low level of hunting for food, oils and feathers, especially targeting immatures and juveniles.  Their habitat is constantly changing due to human activity. The primary threat to their population is mining excavations, which occurs at the end of the summer rainy season.  Their habitat is rich in boron compounds, specifically borax.  Borax is fairly toxic at high dosages to animals but not to humans.  Studies testing the effects of borax exposure in animals show that excess boron causes skeletal malformations, cardiovascular defects, and degeneration of testes.  A study on the mining environment determined as little as 5g of borax can produce adverse effects in animal populations, but human workers remain unaffected at these levels.  A study on Salinas Lake in Peru showed that mining companies have established themselves adjacent to the flamingos' nesting sites, and some mining is performed near flamingo breeding grounds and feeding sites.  Flamingos abandoned their nesting sites if mining was initiated after the establishment of nesting colonies and in close proximity. An increase of hydrocarbon exploration resulted in a decreased success rate for breeding.  Mining creates a muddy environment, which entraps flamingos, thus increasing mortality.  Surveys conducted on residents near the mining activities report sightings of dead flamingos exhumed by the bulldozers. The extraction process also affects the water availability.  Andean flamingos filter surface water for food, but borax mining pollutes this water.  Along with the pollution, the extractions expedite the removal of lake moisture.  By limiting the amount of water in the lake, mining companies can increase visibility, thus contributing to more optimal mining.  A study comparing the correlation between water availability and flamingo population determined that the number of flamingos was strongly correlated to the proportion of water in the lake.  With an insufficient food supply and a disturbed habitat, the decrease in offspring seems inevitable.  The collecting of eggs to sell as food was intensive in the mid-20th century and the early 1980s, with thousands taken annually.  This illegal hunting has increased over time due to an increase in international demand for flamingo eggs.  Poaching is conducted by organized groups within Chile; the group members trap the flamingos and export them to Europe, the United States, and other overseas destinations.  The removal of eggs can disturb the nesting process and cause the flamingo to abandon its nest, even if some eggs remain.  Egg removal might be acceptable if the local populations were malnourished, but studies on the diets of the local people show no protein deficiency.  In the area of study, the common people raise llamas and alpacas, which offer a higher content of protein than flamingo eggs.  Alongside mining activities, unregulated tourism has taken its toll on the flamingos' habitat. Over time, numerous peat bogs have developed throughout the land. These bogs gradually build up and begin to overflow into the lake.  When the bogs enter the lake, they decrease the surface area of the water and prevent the flamingos from entering the lake to feed.  As a result of the mining and the tourism, new infrastructure, such as highways, are being built into the Andes.  Highways now run alongside the flamingos' habitat.  With the addition of these roads, accessibility to the flamingos' habitat increases, leading to more commercial mining and tourism, which in turn results in detrimental effects to the Andean flamingo population.  The development of new infrastructure has caused severe fragmentation of the lake, diminishing the biodiversity, and increasing the possibility of extinction for all species.  The demand for surface and underground water, energy production, and transportation, as well as unregulated tourism, have all increased in the last two decades. These increases were documented to be most significant in Chile, the main location for Andean flamingo breeding colonies.  As a consequence, these areas are concentrated with toxic compounds due to mineral and hydrocarbon exploration.  Since the 1980s, the number of successful breeding colonies and the total production of chicks of Andean flamingos declined.  As a result, the Andean flamingos are threatened species.