Lesser flamingos congregating in millions at East African soda lakes face welfare threats from water level changes, algal bloom collapse and human disturbance.
Starvation events following algal bloom collapse cause flamingos to lose body condition rapidly before mass departures to alternative lakes. Chicks too young to fly are left behind during such evacuations and die from starvation and exposure. Disturbance during breeding causes nest abandonment and chick mortality at enormous scale. The welfare of millions of individual birds depends on ecosystem-level habitat protection.