Mass Death For Birds As 60% Of Turkey's Natural Lakes Dry Up From Drought, Overdevelopment
f we stood in this spot a few years ago, the water would be up to your armpits,” says vet Isa Agit, standing on sun-hardened and cracked mud that used to be part of a lake in eastern Turkey, with his hands firmly wrapped around a long-legged buzzard. “That’s the last of the flamingos over there,” he adds, pointing to what is left of the lake in the village of Enginsu – a patch of water just visible in the distance.
Over the past 50 years, 60% of Turkey’s 300 natural lakes have dried up and the loss is devastating for birds and other wildlife. Reduced rainfall, rising temperatures, the mismanagement of public land and poor agricultural practices have caused water levels, even in the Middle East’s second largest lake, Lake Van, to recede by as much as 200 metres.
Migratory birds have been particularly affected by the change – between 3,000 and 5,000 young flamingos died of starvation in July after the waters of Lake Tuz, in central Anatolia’s Konya basin, receded too far for them to reach the shore from their nests. The impact on ecosystems has also caused mass gull deaths and birds of prey are falling sick from infections caused by changes to their diet.
Agit, who works at Yüzüncü Yıl University’s Wild Animal Protection and Rehabilitation Centre in the city of Van, said this year’s fish migration lasted two and a half months – half its usual length – because of the lack of rain. As a result, gulls and other birds have turned to eating unnatural foods such as rubbish and dead animals, which can ultimately kill them due to parasites. “Birds don’t have enough food, so some are attacking each other,” says Agit. “Hawks and eagles don’t usually eat crows, but now they do and sometimes they carry diseases of ticks, which might be lethal.”
EDIT
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2021/oct/07/water-used-to-be-up-to-your-armpits-birds-starve-as-turkeys-lakes-dry-up-aoe
= new reply since forum marked as read
Sometimes I am glad that my college-age granddaughter is not planning to have children... sad, but true.
When 3,000-5,000 flamingos die in one month from starvation, this is a HUGE wake-up call... 
