1. Great and Lesser Flamingos on Lake Nakuru 2. Wide of flamingos on Lake Nakuru 3. Wide of flamingos on Lake Nakuru 4. Wide of Lake Nakuru National Park entrance 5. Close up of Lake Nakuru flag 6. Close of Lake Nakuru National Park sign 7. Various aerials of area around lake showing how much the water levels have receded 8. Wide of flamingos on lake 12. Dead flamingos on ground 13. Close of dead flamingo 9. Flamingos on lake 10. Apollo Kariuki walking along lake stopping to inspect the dead birds 14. SOUNDBITE: (English) Apollo Kariuki, Kenyan Wild Life Service (KWS) Senior Research Scientist: " The culprit for the deaths of the birds, the deaths are attributed to a bacterial infection and basically this is an opportunistic bacteria, which when the bird's immune system is suppressed it becomes pathogenic and causes the disease and eventually the death of the birds. So to contain the deaths or rather to control the spread of the disease, especially amongst the birds, what we've been doing is, we have been deep burying the dead carcasses of the flamingos that die. So that is exactly what we have done to the twenty thousand or so that have died so far." 15. Various of flamingos on lake 16. Close of pelicans on lake 17. Wide of the United Nations Environment Programme offices in Nairobi, Kenya 18. SOUNDBITE: (English) Nehemiah Rotich, Senior Programme Officer, United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) Regional Office: "The water in Lake Nakuru is receding for a number of reasons. One of the reasons is that the catchment has actually been degraded over a long period of time. If you look at the forests which were on the highlands on the east and especially also the forests which were on the Mao, in particular the eastern part of Mao, you'll find that much of those forests have been cleared in the course of time. And as a result of this, the retention of water within the land has reduced tremendously in the sense that because the land has been cleared of vegetation the amount of water percolating into the soil and therefore feeding the rivers for several months of the year is very much reduced. Therefore that water is no longer readily available throughout the year to maintain a level of water within the lake itself. So that's one of the principal causes. Of course water has also been obstructed for other human uses from the drainage basin as well. And all these contribute to less water in the lake." 19. Wide of Lake Nakuru. 20. Wide pan of flamingos on lake 21. SOUNDBITE: (English) Nehemiah Rotich, Senior Programmer Officer, UNEP Regional Office: "The effect this would have on the flamingos would be, one it would be anticipated that the amount of water volume that would normally produce food for the flamingos is also reduced in that sense and this does affect the quantity of food available to the flamingos. It's also thought to affect the ideal conditions that are necessary or conducive for production of the Spirulina which is the principal food of the lesser flamingos in particular." 22. Various of flamingos on lake LEAD IN: The flamingos which make Kenya's Lake Nakuru their home are under threat. A report in this month's Science magazine says that thousands of birds are dying, but no direct cause has yet been found. Researchers think a deadly bacteria might be to blame. Although the receding waters of Lake Nakuru are impacting on wildlife in the area. STORYLINE: Lake Nakuru in Kenya, bathed in pink and crimson as thousands of Africa's Great and Lesser flamingos flock to its waters. But it is the Lesser Flamingos that have really made Lake Nakuru their home. Of the world's six flamingo species (two live in Africa), they are notoriously selective in their feeding habits. You can license this story through AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/metadata/youtube/3723e3851921c36753a7ac7bc19001c0 Find out more about AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/HowWeWork

• published: 23 Jul 2015
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