600 Flamingo chicks tagged in Spanish conservation effort

Six hundred flamingo chicks were fitted with identity rings after being guided on Saturday (August 8) by hundreds of volunteers at the Fuente de Piedra lagoon natural reserve in southern Spain, one of Europe’s greatest colony of flamingos.

Once inside a pen, each chick was fitted with a PVC ring so it can be tracked as it makes its way to various natural reserves in Europe and North Africa.

After the band is fitted, the chick is released to rejoin its colony.

Volunteers and veterinarians carried out exhaustive medical checks of the chicks, including a rare leucistic flamingo. 

Fuente de Piedra lagoon is marking 40 years of flamingo breeding and conservation of the species despite a few years of severe drought in the region or a temporary halt during the COVID pandemic. 

The flamingo lays one egg per breeding season and chicks reach reproductive maturity in between 3 and 10 years, data from Sierra Laguna web-site showed.

Since 1984 when it was declared a natural reserve, more than 200,000 flamingo chicks have hatched at the Fuente de Piedra lagoon in the Malaga province, Andalusia’s Office for Agriculture, Livestock, Fisheries and Sustainable said.

Camera: Jon Nazca, Editing & Production: Jon Nazca, Miguel Gutierrez, Writing: Miguel Gutierrez/Reuters