Flamingos are uniquely adapted to hypersaline and alkaline lake environments that few other species can tolerate. Climate change, water diversion, and human disturbance threaten both their habitat and the welfare of individual birds.
Wild flamingos face welfare threats at a landscape scale. When lake levels drop due to water diversion or drought, the hyperconcentrated brine can encrust on flamingo legs - particularly those of chicks - creating casts that prevent movement and feeding. This phenomenon has been documented in lesser flamingo chicks at Lake Natron in Tanzania, where human intervention has sometimes been required to remove leg casts. Adult flamingos disturbed by human activity during nesting abandon eggs and chicks at high rates, causing mass breeding failure. Their highly specific habitat requirements make flamingos particularly vulnerable to any environmental change - a species indicator of ecosystem integrity.