The Animals of Lake Nakuru National Park

Lake Nakuru National Park is perhaps best known for its astonishing number of flamingos - at some point during the year there are millions of them on Lake Nakuru! These flamingos eat the abundant algae that grows in the warm waters of the alkaline lake. There are two species of flamingo that live here - the Lesser Flamingo and the Greater Flamingo. The Lesser Flamingos are the ones whose numbers are very large.

In addition to flamingos, there are many other species of bird that can be seen in the park, including pelicans, cormorants, and Maribou stork. In total, there are 400 species of birds living in the park! This makes it a great attraction for avid birdwatchers.

There are a number of mammals that can be seen during a game drive. These include baboons, who especially like to hang out near where humans are eating, and the large mammals, such as Cape buffalo (pictured), black and white rhinos, giraffes and zebras.

Black rhinos were introduced to Lake Nakuru National Park to protect them from poachers. They are a highly endangered species, and highly prized to poachers. There are only about 3,600 of these animals left in the world. Currently, there are 25 black rhinos living in the park. They are fenced in, but this is mainly to keep the poachers out, instead of the animals in.

Black rhinos are endangered due to poaching, because their horn is used in traditional Chinese medicine. Between 1970 and 1996, the number of black rhinos was drastically reduced, by almost 96%. Additionally, they face danger due to loss of habitat. The students on the field trip were lucky to get to see some of these highly endangered animals, although they were far away and therefore hard to photograph!