Lithium extraction
Mining in the high Andes draws down the brine of exactly the salt lakes these birds feed and breed on.
Your symbolic adoption supports the Wildlife Connect Flamingo Fund, which provides funding to vetted organizations working to protect flamingos and their habitats.
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| Item | $25 | $50 | $100 | $250 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Gold plated 2026 ornamentFree through December 20th, 2026 | Included | Included | Included | Included |
| Personalized adoption certificate | Included | Included | Included | Included |
| Collectible species cardFront and back | Included | Included | Included | Included |
| 8" plush | Not included | Included | Not included | Not included |
| 12" plush | Not included | Not included | Included | Included |
| Wildlife Connect t-shirt | Not included | Not included | Not included | Included |
| Exclusive champion patch | Not included | Not included | Not included | Included |
Flamingos need water of a very particular kind, and adoptions here pay to keep it: the alkaline lakes and coastal lagoons where they feed and breed, and the monitoring that catches a falling water level while it is still a problem rather than a collapse. Much of the work is someone counting birds, and someone else arguing about water abstraction in a planning meeting. Both cost money and neither photographs well.
Population trend: decreasing. The Andean flamingo is Vulnerable on the IUCN Red List, and the high-altitude lakes these birds depend on are shrinking.
Mining in the high Andes draws down the brine of exactly the salt lakes these birds feed and breed on.
Water pulled off for farming and towns lowers lakes at the moment a colony most needs them stable.
Flamingos breed in a handful of enormous colonies, so one failed site can cost an entire season of chicks.
Runoff and sewage change the algae and brine shrimp the birds filter out of the water.
Funds from our flamingo adoptions go to the Wildlife Connect Flamingo Fund, which supports vetted wildlife sanctuaries and conservation organizations working to protect flamingos, their habitats, and the many species that live alongside them.
Learn about our impact