On Monday night, approximately 36 dead flamingos were discovered in the financial hub of India, Mumbai. According to the local reports, these birds have died after being hit by an Emirates flight just moments before it touched down.

The incident happened at approximately 8:30 pm when Emirates flight EK 508 was making its final approach to Runway 27 of the Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport. According to the news sources, Mumbai air traffic control stated that the Emirates pilots reported several bird strikes that they have noticed on the aircraft fuselage during the inspection after landing.

Flamingo carcasses were found in the Ghatkopar neighborhood, which is in close proximity to the Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport. The collision with the birds has also caused damage to the Emirates aircraft, resulting in the cancellation of its return flight to United Arab Emirates (UAE), as indicated by the Flightradar24 tracking website.

People living in the neighborhood were the first ones to came across fragments of wings, beaks, and claws strewn across a wide area, prompting them to notify forest authorities. A search operation has been initiated by local officials to determine if additional flamingos were harmed in the incident.

According to a local environmentalist, the recent construction of new power lines in the vicinity had led to the birds becoming “disoriented,” resulting in the unfortunate incident. The Resqink Association for Wildlife Welfare (RAWW), a local non-governmental organization, focuses on addressing human-wildlife conflicts and advocating for urban wildlife conservation, stated that the bird carcasses have been forwarded for autopsy to ascertain the “precise cause of their demise.”

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Flamingos are found in various regions throughout India, especially in the winter months. In Mumbai, a significant population of these birds can be found at the Sewri mudflats, which is a wetland area. Additionally, the Thane Creek Flamingo Sanctuary on the outskirts of the city and Bhigwan, located around 100km from Pune, are other notable locations in Maharashtra where these unique birds are plentiful.

India boasts the largest number of lesser flamingos outside of Africa, with a majority of them residing in the salt deserts of Gujarat in the western part of the country.