Flamingos are highly social waterbirds whose welfare depends on large flocks, specialised feeding habitats, and access to alkaline lakes threatened by climate change.
Flamingo welfare is closely tied to flock size and social complexity. Isolated or small-group flamingos in captivity show stress behaviours and fail to breed normally. In the wild, habitat degradation, pollution of soda lakes, and human disturbance at breeding colonies disrupt feeding and nesting. Rising lake levels from climate change have inundated traditional breeding sites. Conservation of intact lake ecosystems is the most critical welfare intervention for wild flamingos.