The saline waters make the lake inhospitable for many plants and animals, yet the surrounding salt water marshes are a surprising habitat for flamingos. The caustic nature of the mud around the lake deters predators, and there are hot springs here which can be enjoyed by human visitors. Despite its dark colour in this image, Lake Natron is often bright red owing to the presence of microorganisms that feed on the salts of the water. The red accessory photosynthesizing pigment in the cyanobacteria produces the deep reds of the open water of the lake and the orange colours of the shallow. Saline, with a deep red colour in the dry season, this is a breeding area for 2.5 million lesser flamingos, which thrive on bacteria that are a result of the salinity of the water. Lake Natron is another Rift Valley Lake, alongside other notable lakes including Lake Kivu in Rwanda, Lake Nyassa in Malawi and Lake Turkana, also in Kenya. It’s fed by the Southern Ewaso Ng’iro River in Kenya. This shallow but wide lake is just three metres deep but 22km wide. over Lake Natron, when we spotted thousands of flamingos nesting on 64 IVORY. Blood-red from the bacteria that live in it, the salt lake is steaming hot, with temperatures that can reach up to 140 degrees Fahrenheit, according to the New Scientist. Animals, adventure and discovery in the wild places of Africa Alan Root. Tanzania has no less than four alkaline lakes, but Lake Natron is the most famous. Other than serving as a breeding area for the endangered Lesser Flamingo and as a home to certain kinds of algae and bacteria, Lake Natron is inhospitable to life. The plains are ideal for exploring on walking safaris, and activities offered elsewhere in the area include game drives, night drives, river tubing and excursions to Lake Natron. Lake Natron is a hypersaline and highly alkaline lake located in the eastern section of the volatile East African Rift. The land within the conservancy varies from arid salt savannah plains to lush swamp and riverine forest. With a rich biodiversity, the conservancy has in abundance amongst many other animals, lion, buffalo, wild dog, elephant, golden jackal and honey badgers. “There’s no certainty about why flamingos die in large numbers,” Harper said, but theories have suggested an infectious bout of pneumonia, he said.Shompole is a Conservancy which has been set aside for the wildlife by banning cattle and people from freely roaming and using the area. The concentrated population of these tiny animals gives. He counted up to 1,000 fallen birds in a single day, and estimated that about 200,000 birds were lost that season. However, Lake Natron is mainly populated by the endemic algae Spirulina and billions of brine shrimp. In fact, when Harper first visited Lake Bogoria in Kenya in 1989, he walked into one of the bigger die-offs in the East African population’s history. It is an amalgamation of the chemicals comprising Hydrate Sodium Carbonate & Sodium. Lake Natron is another Rift Valley Lake, alongside other notable lakes. Lake natron derived its name after a mineral known as ‘ Natron. Shompole Conservancy in Kenya has a rich biodiversity with many animals including. It is sited in the Gregory Rift the lake is in the Lake Natron basin situated in Ramsar site lowland of international importance. TONY KARUMBA / AFP - Getty Images fileīut large numbers of flamingos also have a tendency to die all at once, for reasons that remain unclear to researchers. Lake Natron is located in the Arusha district in Tanzania. Lesser flamingos are pictured on Septemin Lake Natron. A courting pair, plump from gulping down red algae and blushing from the pigment that the microbes leach into their skin, will produce a single oblong egg, laid in a miniature salt island made of the soda ash that precipitates out of the lake water as the water evaporates. Unlike those other lakes, though, Lake Natron is extremely alkaline, due to high amounts of the chemical natron (a mix of sodium carbonate and baking soda) in the water. Spirulina, a blue-green algae with red pigments, passes its pigments along to the Lesser Flamingoes that feed on the algae and raise their young. Life and death on the banks of Lake Natronįlamingo flocks arrive at Natron annually, even though each bird will mate only once every four or five years.

Lake natron animals in colour