With the world's population of wild flamingos under threat from overdevelopment and illegal trade on the black market, the wetland reserve is thriving with thousands of the pink feathered creatures in search of an ideal winter habitat. According to the Caribbean Flamingo Conservation Program, the estimated 45,000 flamingos that call Mexico's Yucatan state home are an integral part of the travelling bird's regional metapopulation that stretches as far as the Caribbean islands.