Lake Nakuru
Habitat and wildlife
Habitat and wildlife
--------------------

[thumb\|White Rhinos](/wiki/File:Rhinos_at_lake_nakuru.jpg "Rhinos at lake nakuru.jpg")
Lake Nakuru, a small (varying from ) shallow [alkaline lake](/wiki/Alkali%23Lakes "Alkali#Lakes") on the southern edge of the town of [Nakuru](/wiki/Nakuru "Nakuru") lies about  north of [Nairobi](/wiki/Nairobi "Nairobi"). It can therefore be visited in a day tour from the capital or more likely as part of a circuit including the [Masai Mara](/wiki/Masai_Mara "Masai Mara") (Also Maasai Mara) or [Lake Baringo](/wiki/Lake_Baringo "Lake Baringo") and eastwards up to [Samburu](/wiki/Samburu_National_Reserve "Samburu National Reserve"). The lake is world\-famous as the location of one of the greatest bird spectacle on earth – myriads of fuchsia pink [flamingos](/wiki/Flamingo "Flamingo"), of which there are often more than a million, or even two million. They feed on the abundant [algae](/wiki/Algae "Algae"), which thrives in the warm waters. Scientists reckon that the [flamingo](/wiki/Flamingo "Flamingo") population at Nakuru consumes about  of [algae](/wiki/Algae "Algae") per hectare of surface area per year.

There are two types of [flamingo](/wiki/Flamingo "Flamingo") species: the [lesser flamingo](/wiki/Lesser_flamingo "Lesser flamingo") (shorter and lighter) and the [greater flamingo](/wiki/Greater_flamingo "Greater flamingo") (taller and darker). The lesser flamingos are more commonly pictured in documentaries mainly because their larger numbers. The number of flamingos has been decreasing recently, possibly due to too much tourism or by pollution resulting from industrial waste dumping into the water sources in the surrounding area \- changes in water quality make the lake temporarily inhospitable for flamingoes. Usually, the lake recedes during the dry season and floods during the wet season.

In recent years, there have been wide variations between the dry and wet seasons' water levels. It is suspected that this is caused by increasing watershed land conversion to intensive crop production and urbanization, both which reduce the capacity of soils to absorb water, recharge ground water and thus increase seasonal flooding. Pollution and drought destroy the flamingos' food, [Cyanobacteria](/wiki/Cyanobacteria "Cyanobacteria"), or blue\-green algae, causing them to migrate to the nearby Lakes, more recently lakes [Elementaita](/wiki/Elementaita "Elementaita"), [Simbi](/wiki/Simbi "Simbi") Nyaima and [Bogoria](/wiki/Lake_Bogoria "Lake Bogoria"). Local climate changes have also been hypothesized to contribute to the changing environmental conditions in the lakes catchment. Recent media reports indicate increasing concern among stakeholders, as mass flamingo migrations and deaths could spell doom to the tourism industry.

The [flamingos](/wiki/Flamingo "Flamingo") feed on [algae](/wiki/Algae "Algae"), created from their droppings into the warm [alkaline](/wiki/Alkaline "Alkaline") waters, and [plankton](/wiki/Plankton "Plankton"). But [flamingo](/wiki/Flamingo "Flamingo") are not the only avian attraction; also present are two large fish eating birds, [pelicans](/wiki/Pelican "Pelican") and [cormorants](/wiki/Cormorant "Cormorant"). Despite the tepid and [alkaline](/wiki/Alkaline "Alkaline") waters, a diminutive fish, *[Alcolapia grahami](/wiki/Alcolapia_grahami "Alcolapia grahami")* has flourished after being introduced in the early 1960s. The lake is rich in other bird life too. There are over 400 resident species on the lake and in the surrounding park. Thousands of both little [grebes](/wiki/Grebe "Grebe") and white winged black [terns](/wiki/Tern "Tern") are frequently seen as are [stilts](/wiki/Stilt "Stilt"), [avocets](/wiki/Avocet "Avocet"), [ducks](/wiki/Duck "Duck"), and in the European winter the migrant waders.

[Zooplankton](/wiki/Zooplankton "Zooplankton"): The monogonont [rotifer](/wiki/Rotifer "Rotifer") species *[Brachionus](/wiki/Brachionus "Brachionus") sp.* Austria (belonging to the *[Brachionus plicatilis](/wiki/Brachionus_plicatilis "Brachionus plicatilis")* cryptic species complex) occurs in the lake.

[thumb\|720px\|Flamingos on Lake Nakuru](/wiki/File:Kenya%2C_Nakuru_Lake.jpg "Kenya, Nakuru Lake.jpg")


How many resident bird species are there around Lake Nakuru?