They’re thriving as campy lawn statues across America, but in the Yucatan Peninsula in Mexico, the Caribbean flamingo is flirting with extinction — again. In the 1950s, the region’s flamingo population, Mesoamerica’s lone flamingo colony, dwindled to a mere 5,000 birds. But the population recovered in the sanctuary of the 200-square-mile Ria Lagartos Biosphere Reserve, increasing to more than 30,000 birds. Now, though, the flamingos are facing new threats, as hotels and businesses in Ria Lagartos rob them of habitat, and salt factories alter the salinity of the water in the estuary. The birds have concentrated their nests on a small island that offers refuge from developers and predators alike. But erosion is wreaking havoc on the island; last year, drenching rains led to the loss of all but 186 of many thousands of eggs, and this year, all eggs were lost. Scientists studying the region have proposed a $100,000 project to protect the island from erosion.
