Lesser Flamingos at Kamfers Dam near Kimberley
The flamingos of Kimberley's Kamfers Dam are a spectacularly memorable sight, even if you're not a serious birder. Kamfers Dam is a permanent wetland just minutes by road from the iconic old diamond mining town of Kimberley. Some years there are around 20 000 birds at the dam; but sometimes the population can rocket up to 80 000 birds.
The lesser flamingos flock to this dam because it has an abundance of algae, the favoured food of these filter-feeders. Apparently the amount of algae in the dam has been put at 750 000kg. The problem was – would they, could they – breed here? Their continued existence at the dam depended on successful breeding. In cooperation with birding experts, a visionary and generous mining company, Ekapa, built an S-shaped artificial island in the middle of the dam.
Everyone – conservationists, birders, concerned environmentalists, many of the general public – held their breath. Would the lesser flamingo take to this new man-made home? The birds loved it and set a record – this was the first time that the lesser flamingo had bred in South Africa. Now there is a large permanent breeding population here that has become a magnet for travellers and birders from all over the world.
Map to the Flamingo colony at Kamfers Dam
The lesser flamingos flock to this dam because it has an abundance of algae, the favoured food of these filter-feeders. Apparently the amount of algae in the dam has been put at 750 000kg. The problem was – would they, could they – breed here? Their continued existence at the dam depended on successful breeding. In cooperation with birding experts, a visionary and generous mining company, Ekapa, built an S-shaped artificial island in the middle of the dam.
Everyone – conservationists, birders, concerned environmentalists, many of the general public – held their breath. Would the lesser flamingo take to this new man-made home? The birds loved it and set a record – this was the first time that the lesser flamingo had bred in South Africa. Now there is a large permanent breeding population here that has become a magnet for travellers and birders from all over the world.
Map to the Flamingo colony at Kamfers Dam
