Mexican Street Dogs Are Attacking Flamingos
Mexico is loaded with stray dogs. Some estimates calculate their numbers to be upwards of 19 million feral canines in the country. That is roughly 70% of the nation’s total dog population. Mexico is Latin America’s stray dog leader.
It has become a fact of life for the nation’s ecosystems. These canines are living things, after all. They require sustenance and will not starve without a fight. That puts plenty of creatures in danger. Flamingos are included in that mix.
On Nov. 5, Proyecto Santa Maria posted a video to Facebook showing dogs coordinating a hunt of a flamboyance of flamingos in the water. Though no attack is captured in the footage, the intentions are clear. According to the post, bird watchers and tourists have witnessed dogs stalking and mauling flamingos in the area of Sisal, a coastal Yucatan town.
These attacks have grown the ire of residents and travelers alike. The beautiful pink birds, and the incredible nature of the area as a whole, are a major part of why tourists flock to the city. That tourism is central to the local economy. If the flamingo population is severely threatened through stray dog attacks, it could have wider ramifications on the human population, too.
Why Are There So Many Stray Dogs in Mexico?
The stray dog dilemma is not a new one in Mexico. Spaying and neutering dogs is the general solution to these sorts of problems, but there is not a strong culture of doing so within the country. That is slowly changing, though, according to Lauren Botticelli, executive director of The Animal Pad, a San Diego-based dog rescue, thanks to combined efforts from organizations invested in the issue.
“The spay and neuter problem is getting increasingly better and under control,” Botticelli told Adopt A Pet in September. “(Focused organizations) have been working hard to make sure that dogs on the streets are getting altered and aren’t procreating the way they once were.”
Pet abandonment is an issue across the world. It’s especially common in areas stricken with wider poverty. Its negative consequences seep further when spaying and neutering rates are low. There is a shelter system in place in Mexico that does bring some dogs off the streets and eventually into homes, at least ideally. But it’s nowhere near robust enough.
What Does This Mean for Flamingos?
A reduction in Mexican street dogs can only be good for flamingos - it’s in nobody’s best interest to be eaten alive. The sheer number of strays on Mexican streets and the culture surrounding them means that it would take a monumental effort for them to largely disappear. But moves are being made to reduce births and wrangle the stray dogs already around.
Still, there is a long road ahead. The spay and neuter efforts are not felt immediately - it takes years for the lack of new stray puppies to become noticeable. They are also not uniform throughout the entirety of the country. Organizations can make headway in Mexico City and Tijuana, but that doesn’t reduce the dogs hundreds of miles away in Sisal.
Until humans do more about stray dogs in Mexico, flamingos must find their own ways to survive. They are highly adaptable and resilient animals, capable of enduring very harsh realities that most living things can’t. Flight, water know-how, and strength in numbers are the bird’s defenses against dog attacks. They won’t work every time, but they will work some of the time. Until humans can figure out our end of the bargain, that will have to do.
