Lake Nakuru joined in 2013 the list of other lakes in Rift Valley whose water levels have abnormally increased endangering the lives of residents and the ecosystems around the lake.
Some lakes are recognized as Wetlands of International Importance, and all are Important Bird Areas, with several being within UNESCO-listed World Heritage Sites.
The lake level rises are worrying because of the destruction to homes, livelihoods, industry, and infrastructure, and loss of terrestrial wildlife habitat.
The effects on lake ecologies are a concern as flooding increases lake turbidity and dilutes the saline waters of alkaline lakes. Alkaline lakes like Nakuru provide unique feeding habitats for East Africa’s famous lesser flamingos.
Lake Nakuru is well known in Kenya for its rhino population, and it has one hundred white and fifty black rhinos to be seen.
Black and white rhinos naming has created confusion because both species of rhino are in fact grey… I hope I didn't make a mistake identifying this one as black!
More than 200 million people in the world people have schistosomiasis, a parasitic worm that lodges itself in blood vessels, causes organ damage and diminishes learning ability if left untreated. Experts say 50 million young children are at risk, mostly in Africa. An effective treatment, a pill called praziquantel, is available to adults and school-aged children but has been complicated to dose for anyone younger. A version of the drug for preschoolers is in the works, but distributing it won’t be a straight-forward task. NPR has more.
The Augur Buzzard is a large, stocky hawk, which usually perches in full view on the ground on a prominence of ground or on a perch (tree, rock, post,…) and is not shy, so that one can often observe it at leisure.