Over 100,000 Flamingos Reportedly Descend on Mumbai Amid India's Strict Coronavirus Lockdown
Madeleine Carlisle
1 hour ago
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© Ndranil Mukherjee/AFP—Getty Images A flock of flamingos flies in a pond during a government-imposed nationwide lockdown as a preventive measure against the spread of the COVID-19 coronavirus, in Navi Mumbai on April 20, 2020. | Ndranil Mukherjee/AFP—Getty Images India has been under a
strict lockdown since March 25, which has required over a billion people to stay home and shutter all but essential services, in an attempt to stop the spread of
COVID-19, the disease caused by novel coronavirus. On May 1, the Indian government
extended the lockdown through May 18.
Flamingos typically migrate to wetlands of the metropolitan region of Mumbai from November to May, Rhul Khot, the assistant director of the BNHS, told the
Times. But this year’s lockdown “is giving these birds peace for roosting, no disturbance in their attempt to obtain food and overall encouraging habitat,” Deepak Apte, the director of the BNHS, explained, per
Times. He added that the increase is also likely tied to a successful breeding season two years ago, as well as the destruction of wetlands on India’s eastern seafront that could be pushing the birds to the Mumbai region, per the
Times.
Khot also told the
Times that an increase in “domestic sewage” from people staying at home during the lockdown “is helping the undisturbed formation of planktons, algae and microbenthos formation, which forms the food for flamingos and other wetland birds.”
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“Residents are cooped up at home spending their mornings and evenings at their balconies taking photographs and videos of these relaxed birds,” Sunil Agarwal, a resident of Seawoods in Navi Mumbai, told the
Times about the flamingos.
“The lockdown will at least prompt people to focus on what is around them, which they had been taking for granted, and hopefully this site will be declared a flamingo sanctuary soon.”
