Flamingo birds at Lake Nakuru National Park. [Photo/Nation]
About 300, 000 flamingo birds have returned to Lake Nakuru National Park an indication that tourism during the festive seaon will be boosted.
The birds had dissapeared due migration.
In the past, Lake Nakuru was home for 1.5 million and three million flamingos.
According to hoteliers in the region, the return of birds means that tourism might be boosted.
“Our bed occupancy had reduced to 20 per cent as international tourists kept away from our lodge as there were no flamingos on the shores of Lake Nakuru,” said Mr Joseph Muya, the Lake Nakuru Lodge director of Marketing and Sales is quoted by Nation.
He said the low level of algae – the flamingos’ main source of food – was caused by heavy pollution upstream on River Ndarugu that drains into the Lake Nakuru, forcing the birds to migrate.
He said that tourism has also been on the low due due to a long political season something that forced them to cut on staff.
“We were forced to scale down our workforce by sending them on unpaid leave. We could not afford to retain them as tourist arrivals at the lodge were declining by the day due to heightened political tension,” he said.