Fitted with a satellite device, this flamingo, Yasmeena, will help Abu Dhabi researchers track the bird’s migratory routes.
Abu Dhabi’s Environment Agency (EAD) has been busy this year. In addition to rescuing endangered baboons and hyenas from a private home, and caring for coral reefs one disc at a time, they have played a pivotal role to ensure that posterity will be able to enjoy the Gulf’s marine turtles.
Following the success of various tagging programs since 2005, the EAD captured and fit another Greater Flamingo named Yasmeena with a satellite device that will enable researchers to track her migration route and stopovers.
The EAD has fitted 15 birds with the device since 2005, nine of which are still being tracked. One of them, named Sindibad, was the first to cross the Gulf, according to Gulf News. The device allowed researchers to trace him pausing at various wetland sites along the way. He is currently perched at Khor Al Beidah in Umm Al Quwain.
In another case, a flamingo tagged in Al Wathba Wetland Reserve in 2007 led researchers to discover a previously unknown breeding colony in the Mussafah Channel.
Yasmeena, though, is expected to help Dr. Salim Javed – who leads EAD’s Bird Program and who is also the Manager of Biodiversity Assessment and Monitory – and his colleagues trace migratory routes. Other flamingos have traveled to Iran (where they used to flock at Lake Urmia), Turkmenistan, and Kazakhstan.
:: Gulf News
More nature conservation efforts in Abu Dhabi:
Rare Sea Turtles and Other Wildlife Living Happily on Persian Gulf
Rebuilding Abu Dhabi’s Coral Reefs One Disc at a Time
Endangered Baboons and Hyenas Rescued from Private Home in Abu Dhabi
Author: Tafline Laylin
As a tour leader who led “eco-friendly” camping trips throughout North America, Tafline soon realized that she was instead leaving behind a trail of gas fumes, plastic bottles and Pringles. In fact, wherever she traveled – whether it was Viet Nam or South Africa or England – it became clear how inefficiently the mandate to re-think our consumer culture is reaching the general public. Born in Iran, raised in South Africa and the United States, she currently splits her time between Africa and the Middle East. Tafline can be reached at tafline (at) greenprophet (dot) com.
