[ad_1]
- The annual migration of a flock of 1000’s of larger flamingos to northern Sri Lanka’s Mannar wetland attracts crowds of photographers, a rising variety of whom now use drones to snap the birds from above.
- Environmental activists and authorities have warned in opposition to this development, saying the presence of drones disturbs the birds and will drive them away from Mannar altogether.
- Consultants level to a worrying precedent: Within the Nineties, the Bundala wetland within the nation’s south was pumped stuffed with recent water as a part of an irrigation program, killing off the shrimp and plankton that flamingos there consumed. The flamingos quickly deserted the wetland.
- In Mannar, a area impoverished by many years of civil conflict, the flamingos are a key tourism attraction that ought to be preserved to assist increase the livelihoods of locals, consultants say.
MANNAR, Sri Lanka — With reddish-pink, brushstroke-like smudges on its wings, legs and enormous downward-curved beak, the larger flamingo is a surprising fowl to look at, notably in flight as half of a giant flock.
One such flock, numbering about 5,000 larger flamingos (Phoenicopterus roseus), stopped over on the Mannar wetland, a Ramsar web site, in northern Sri Lanka this previous January. The annual guests drew giant crowds, lots of them armed with professional-grade cameras and lenses to match, and others toting smartphones whereas attempting to rise up near the birds.
Then there have been these, a small however rising group, that introduced drones. Flying them proper above the flamingo flock searching for picturesque aerial photographs, they included each skilled and hobbyist photographers. To environmentalists, nevertheless, this rising development might pose a severe risk to the flamingos particularly, and to wildlife typically.
Drone nervousness
“When these drones fly just some meters above the flamingos with the whirring sound of rotors, the birds usually deal with the noise as an aerial predator and would take off in nice nervousness,” stated Sampath Seneviratne of the College of Colombo, who research migratory birds within the space.
If these disturbances proceed, he stated, the birds might transfer to extra distant areas of the wetland, or maybe keep away from the positioning fully.
Drones have lengthy been used for scientific functions, and in recent times advances in expertise imply they’ve develop into extra compact whereas managing to fly greater, quicker, farther and longer. In that point, there’s been appreciable analysis on the affect of low-flying drones on birds, together with the danger of mid-air collisions and disturbances to birds which can be nesting or feeding. For the migratory flamingos of Mannar, the principle risk environmentalists see is a disturbance of their foraging exercise.
“We enchantment to the related authorities, and to any of those drone fliers who’ve a conscience, to right away cease this harmful follow,” stated Spencer Manuapillai, president of the Wildlife and Nature Safety Society (WNPS), Sri Lanka’s oldest conservation group, which has launched a marketing campaign to forestall drone images from turning dangerous to varied species. The first concern is the flamingos, however drones can even disturb different birds, Manuapillai stated.
In Sri Lanka, working a camera-equipped drone requires approval by the Civil Aviation Authority of Sri Lanka. It’s unlawful to fly drones in delicate areas, so authorities deploy extra wildlife officers in locations the place flamingos aboundant, stated Chandana Sooriyabandara, director-general of the Division of the Wildlife Conservation (DWC). The police and navy additionally help in controlling the crowds, Sooriyabandara advised Mongabay.
Whereas leisure use of drones could cause pointless disturbances, the expertise is a useful gizmo for wildlife analysis, stated Chandima Fernando, an ecologist with the Sri Lanka Wildlife Conservation Society (SLWCS). Fernando makes use of drones for numerous wildlife research for his greater schooling in New Zealand, and experiments with using drones to mitigate human-elephant conflicts, one of many largest environmental points in Sri Lanka.
“Like another technical instrument, the affect of the drone is determined by the operator,” Fernando advised Mongabay. “Sri Lanka wants pointers and their strict enforcement relating to wildlife research and leisure flying.”
There additionally must be schooling on the cautious use of drones, contemplating it’s nonetheless a comparatively new instrument, he added.
Profit to the group
Mannar, typically a vacation spot just for hard-core wildlife fans, has now develop into a middle of attraction due to the flamingo flock. Most inns have reported elevated bookings, and locals working as guides have additionally been capable of money in throughout this era.
“Flamingo is a treasure for the Mannar area, so, we don’t wish to drive them away due to the irresponsible actions of some,” stated Marynathan Edison, a Mannar-based naturalist who guides guests on flamingo-watching excursions.
Wealthy in biodiversity, Mannar was for many years minimize off from the remainder of Sri Lanka, and the world, by the civil conflict that ran from 1983 to 2009, Solely in recent times have the local people, impoverished by the conflict, begun to learn from their distinctive environment.
Seneviratne stated they need to have the chance to share within the wealth generated by the wetland’s pure sources. However he added that irresponsible drone exercise jeopardizes this chance by threatening to drive the flamingos, the most important attraction there, away from the wetland.
Seneviratne, who conducts migratory fowl analysis utilizing GPS satellite tv for pc tags, stated the flamingos that cease over in Mannar come from India’s Gujarat area. In November 2019, a minimum of 2,000 flamingos have been discovered useless in India, believed to be a part of the flock that makes the annual journey to Sri Lanka, Seneviratne advised Mongabay. Immediately, about 70% of the Mannar flamingos are juvenile birds, which is an effective signal, Seneviratne stated, as a result of it signifies that the flock has largely bounced again over the previous two years.
If the Mannar flamingos find yourself abandoning the positioning, it received’t be the primary time a key wetland in Sri Lanka has misplaced its flamingos, Seneviratne stated. Within the Nineties, an irrigation undertaking diverted recent water into the Bundala wetlands within the south, Sri Lanka’s first Ramsar web site. Bundala had lengthy hosted flamingos, that are filter feeders, consuming small shrimps and plankton that they scoop up with their giant beaks. However with the inflow of recent water, the saline-dependent shrimp and plankton disappeared, and with them, the flamingos.
Bundala, as we speak a freshwater lagoon, serves as a cautionary story in regards to the significance of not disturbing the fragile stability in nature, Seneviratne stated. And this, he added, additionally applies to photographers, who, like everybody else, ought to study to get pleasure from nature’s wonders in a accountable method.
Banner picture of the flamingo flock in Sri Lanka’s Mannar wetland. The migratory flock this 12 months quantity greater than 5,000 birds. Picture courtesy of Upul Rodrigo.
[ad_2]
Source link