70 Greater flamingos arrive at Hope Island, largest sighting in the estuary

A flock of nearly 70 Greater flamingos (Phoenicopterus roseus) arrived at Hope Island in Coringa Wildlife Sanctuary, Kakinada Bay for the first time on Tuesday. This is the first largest flock of Greater flamingos ever sighted in the Godavari estuary. 

Last winter, a lone Greater flamingo was sighted in the wetland adjacent to the Coromandel International fertilizer unit on the outskirts of Kakinada city. A few Greater flamingos were also sighted on the mudflats of S.Yanam and Bhairavapalem in recent years. 

Forest department personnel led by Coringa Wildlife Sanctuary Ranger S.S.R. Vara Prasada Rao sighted the gathering on Tuesday. 

According to an official release issued by the District Forest officer N. Ramachandra Rao, the Greater flamingos arrived at Hope Island for ‘feeding’. However, the Coringa Wildlife Sanctuary authorities are yet to establish the last stop of the flock before they arrived at the island. 

On January 17, Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu had announced a space city with statelling launching facility would be developed on Hope Island under the Public Private Partnership model.