At one week, a chick takes its first wobbly steps. It leaves its nest and joins other chicks that have hatched on the island. A few adult flamingos watch over thousands of chicks. T ere’s safety in numbers, yet the chicks are


vulnerable. Adult flamingos can fly away when predators attack. T e chicks can’t. T ey won’t learn to fly until they’re three months old. Unfortunately, hot springs and sticky mud


don’t stop all predators. Up in the sky, a giant stork circles. With a heavy thud, this bulky bird lands on a salt island. T e stork towers over the nearby flamingos. An adult flamingo tries to chase the stork


away. It flaps its wings and jabs its head toward the stork. T e flamingo’s blunt and curved bill—built for scooping up algae—isn’t much of a weapon, though. It’s no match for a stork. T e stork slashes the air with its long, sharp


bill, forcing the flamingo to step back. T en it chases a nearby chick. In seconds, the stork snatches up a chick, shakes it, and gulps it.


Despite all the dangers, many of the flamingo chicks survive. Soon, they’ll learn to fly. Like their parents, they’ll rise into the air. T ey’ll head to the next soda lake and to the next algae bloom. T is is how it has worked generation aſt er


generation. Now, though, these flamingos face a new danger. T eir ecosystem is under threat. Ecosystems naturally go through cycles of


change. T e algae blooms in the soda lakes is a good example. Human activity changes ecosystems, too.


T at’s what is happening in the Great Riſt Valley. Developers want to build a factory near Lake Natron, the flamingos’ main nesting ground. T e factory would collect tons of soda ash.


T is mineral is used to make things like glass and household cleaners. To clean the soda ash before collecting it, algae-eating shrimps would be released into the lake. T ey’d compete for the same food the flamingos need to survive. T at could throw this ecosystem out of balance.


Flamingos take off, trying to escape a hyena.


8


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