THIRTY FIVE flamingos are thought to have died after consuming lead shot in Larnaca's salt lake, it emerged yesterday.
Samples taken from the birds' livers last week indicate that fatal levels of lead, likely to have come from lead shot left behind after the closure of waterside clay pigeon shooting range, were the cause of death.
Nicos Kassinis, Wildlife Biologist for the Game Fund, has spent 10 years working with the flamingos. He said yesterday: "We sent liver samples to the Veterinary Department, and the results showed their livers had several times the toxic level. We have also had a few deaths in Akrotiri, where the birds sometimes fly onto. However, we cannot say there is a correlation between the two yet." 
This year has seen record numbers of flamingos, with over 10,000 arriving on the island in total. Kassinis said "We had around 6,000 in January, 3000 in February, and though we do not have the figures yet, we expect around 1,500 this month."
The large numbers coincide with the highest water levels for years.
Birdlife Cyprus, Spokesman, Martin Hellicar, said yesterday that the record water levels have extended the lake's boundaries into areas where lead shot remains from the old shooting range. 
The new instances of lead poisoning have likely occurred, he said, because flamingos and other filter feeders, such as shell ducks and Shovellers, move to the shallower areas near the shoreline.
"This incident shows that there is still a problem with the substrate."
Authorities organised a large scale clean up of the area in 2003, after the shooting range closed. However, it seems that some lead shot has remained in the new feeding areas.
Asked if the authorities might consider a second sweep of the lake floor to remove remaining lead, Pantelis Hadjiyerou, Director of the Game Fund, said "I do not think that cleaning will be appropriate, because the destruction to the ecology from the cleaning would be worse than the effects of the lead that is there. The percentage of birds that died from lead poisoning is very low, and it is not certain that it came from this lake."
He added that a greater problem for the flamingos is a type of parasite that has been found in their trachea, and the trachea of other birds. Local experts have not determined if this parasite is resident in Cyprus, or if the birds arrive with it.
For Kassinis and other experts, the priority for authorities is to step up the monitoring and testing of toxins in the water. "We need to do more (in terms of) monitoring. At the moment we are periodically collecting samples and testing. This should be continued and expanded, especially with the nearby housing and recently expanded airport."
A large part of the lake now sits inside the expanded airport. "This expansion has surely put pressure on the lake's eco-system" he said.