Two wildlife conservation stories are circulating the news media at present which I’ve picked up and they appear to be linked. They concern two lakes. One is in China (Poyang Lake) and the other in Kenya (Lake Bogoria). Poyang Lake, the largest freshwater lake in China has almost entirely dried up. Lake Bogoria has too much water and has expanded rapidly.
Poyang Lake
They say that biodiversity is threatened by drought hit Poyang Lake. People are fishing in the lake by walking in it and picking up fish! This is China’s largest freshwater lake. Shocking videos have emerged of people fishing with their hands.
3150 km² of water has turned to parched wasteland. It’s due to a persistent heatwave in China since July. The lake surface area has shrunk by more than 90%.
It is at its lowest level since 1951. The lake entered is dry season more than two months early. This has had a devastating effect on wildlife dependent upon the lake.
Aquatic plants, animals and fish that live on the lakebed together with shrimp, crabs and muscles have died. The biodiversity of the lake is shattered.
700,000 migratory birds are in danger because they, too, depend upon the lake. They come to the lake between October and March.
98% of the world’s 4000 white cranes come to the lake. 95% of the oriental white storks do the same thing as do 70% of white-naped cranes. They are all in jeopardy.
The lake is considered to be one of the most important wintering grounds for these bird species. They come from East Asia and Australia.
When the aquatic animals supported by the lake die, birds will be seriously affected. And the now muddy lake also makes it more difficult for the birds to find food.
The drying out of the lake has affected a grass-like plant with triangular stems called sedge. It is an important food for geese and ducks. It should grow in the area in November. But it’s grown too tall and for too long making it indigestible to these birds.
Conservation organisations in China are working on a solution. They are trying to grow sedge of the right quality. They are preparing patches of vegetation for the birds.
These are freaky weather conditions, and it looks like they are a result of global warming.
Source: China Daily.
Lake Bogoria
The opposite is happening in late Bogoria. More freaky weather conditions.
The gate to the lake through which tourists used to pass through is now submerged in acid-green water. The lake is in northern Kenya. About 10 years ago it started to expand in size. It swallowed farms and homes.
A foul-smelling algae developed. The pH of the lake has been disturbed. Pink flamingos are fussy about the pH of this lake, and they don’t like it and so their numbers have plummeted. Their food source has dwindled.
Kenya’s scientists are trying to find a solution. As is the case with Poyang Lake, they are playing catch up. They are being reactive.
The scientists are collecting food samples from Bogoria Lake and breeding algae in laboratories. They will set up ponds within Kenya’s soda lakes hoping that the flamingos will feed there.
Paul Rose, a flamingo expert at the University of Exeter said: “Flamingos need undisturbed nesting areas and lakes of a specific pH and water chemistry for foraging”.
Scientists say that climate change is partly to blame as vast amounts of rain have been dumped into Kenya’s lakes during times when the weather should be dry. This has diluted the pH and caused the lake to expand.
Also, heavy rains caused the lake to fill with mud. There are other problems. Agricultural run-off and human encroachment and competition from other species have hit the food supply of flamingos.
Another lake has suffered a decline in flamingo population from 850,000 in 2000 to 6000 in 2021.
Source: The Times.