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In Guinea-Bissau, a mysterious massacre of vultures
Home > Buzz > Unusual - Today at 1:47 pm - AFP
Hundreds of vultures have died for a mysterious reason in recent days in Guinea-Bissau, authorities said on Tuesday, which recommended that people avoid contact with the bodies of raptors to avoid the risk of contamination while waiting for results of veterinary analyzes.
Dozens of dead vultures have been found near the main slaughterhouse in Bissau, where they usually roam in large numbers to feed on meat scraps, workers from the establishment said.
For the past week or so, the phenomenon has affected several regions of this former Portuguese colony in West Africa with a tropical climate, notably Bafata (east), Quebo (south) and the Bijagos archipelago (west), before reaching the capital.
"I have been informed by butchers and the population of the discovery of vulture carcasses. In total, we have counted a hundred, but we do not yet have a medical or veterinary source to give us the reasons (explaining) as many vulture deaths, "said Bunda district governor Dundu Sambu to the press.
Some 135 raptors were cremated Monday in this region, away from inhabited areas and under the supervision of health authorities and state officials, according to the Bissau-Guinean newspaper O Democrata, which estimates more than 240 the numbers of raptors who died in recent days in the country.
Samples have been taken and will be analyzed in a laboratory in Dakar, in neighboring Senegal, to determine whether it is "an avian flu or not", told AFP a national official of veterinary services, Mboma Bald?.
The populations were invited to avoid contact with dead birds and to prevent domestic animals from approaching or feeding on them, said the governor of Bafata, quoted by O Democrata.
In the Bijagos Islands, off the coast of Bissau, where the vulture is a totem animal, residents have sacrificed chickens and spread palm oil on the altar during traditional ceremonies to ward off what they consider to be a curse, the son of a local witch doctor told AFP.
In Guinea-Bissau, a mysterious massacre of vultures
Home > Buzz > Unusual - Today at 1:47 pm - AFP
Hundreds of vultures have died for a mysterious reason in recent days in Guinea-Bissau, authorities said on Tuesday, which recommended that people avoid contact with the bodies of raptors to avoid the risk of contamination while waiting for results of veterinary analyzes.
Dozens of dead vultures have been found near the main slaughterhouse in Bissau, where they usually roam in large numbers to feed on meat scraps, workers from the establishment said.
For the past week or so, the phenomenon has affected several regions of this former Portuguese colony in West Africa with a tropical climate, notably Bafata (east), Quebo (south) and the Bijagos archipelago (west), before reaching the capital.
"I have been informed by butchers and the population of the discovery of vulture carcasses. In total, we have counted a hundred, but we do not yet have a medical or veterinary source to give us the reasons (explaining) as many vulture deaths, "said Bunda district governor Dundu Sambu to the press.
Some 135 raptors were cremated Monday in this region, away from inhabited areas and under the supervision of health authorities and state officials, according to the Bissau-Guinean newspaper O Democrata, which estimates more than 240 the numbers of raptors who died in recent days in the country.
Samples have been taken and will be analyzed in a laboratory in Dakar, in neighboring Senegal, to determine whether it is "an avian flu or not", told AFP a national official of veterinary services, Mboma Bald?.
The populations were invited to avoid contact with dead birds and to prevent domestic animals from approaching or feeding on them, said the governor of Bafata, quoted by O Democrata.
In the Bijagos Islands, off the coast of Bissau, where the vulture is a totem animal, residents have sacrificed chickens and spread palm oil on the altar during traditional ceremonies to ward off what they consider to be a curse, the son of a local witch doctor told AFP.
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