First flamingos arrive at Aliki Larnaca, numbers declined over ten years

The first flamingos arrived at Aliki Larnaca on December 4, 2025, but their numbers have declined over the past decade, local representatives of the Hunting and Wildlife Service reported.

Journalist Olga Konstantinu visited Aliki Larnaca and interviewed senior Hunting and Wildlife Service officer Nikos Katsinis regarding the decrease in the flamingo population on the island.

According to the service, over the last ten years, bird numbers in the Larnaca and Akrotiri areas have decreased by 18–30%. Long-term data over 30 years show relative stability, depending on rainfall and water levels in the salt lakes, but the last decade has been characterized by a steady decline.

In Akrotiri, the main reason is water quality deterioration caused by drought, affecting all water bodies visited by flamingos. An additional factor is human interference: entry to Aliki territory and disturbing the birds is prohibited, but there are cases of people entering the salt lakes for photos and scaring the birds away.

Information signs have been installed in the area; the service plans to place additional markers and will file complaints if violations continue. Observations indicate that migrating birds mainly arrive from Turkey, Spain, and Italy, stay on the island for several months, and then usually return to Turkey; one tagged flamingo was found in Sudan in spring.