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Sick birds toll mounts at Sukhna
[ 24 Jan, 2007 0231hrs ISTTIMES NEWS NETWORK ]
CHANDIGARH: The number of sick birds, both wild and domesticated, continues to mount at the Sukhna lake here, with the UT wildlife
department rescuing a large egret and a domesticated goose on Monday. While the egret showed signs of weak legs and was unable to fly, the goose was on the verge of collapse displaying sign of shivering and a drooping neck.
With Monday's rescue operation, the number of sick domesticated geese which live near the Lake Club has gone up to four. Twelve migratory wild birds have died since January 13 out of which the UT Wildlife department has managed to recover only nine, with two Spotbill ducks and a likely wood sandpiper going missing within hours of their discovery in the Sukhna marshes on January 13.
Along with the rescue operations, a team of expert bird trappers of the Bombay Natural History Society (BNHS) netted a Greylag goose, a Coot and a Northern Shovellor for blood sampling. The samples from a Ruddy Shelduck (Brahminny duck) trapped on Monday by Ali Hussain have been sent to the Regional Disease Diagnostic Laboratary at Jalandhar.
BNHS veterinarian Dr Debojit Das, who examined the sick geese, said, "The birds were displaying symptoms of a nervine disorder that is common to avian diseases like botulisim and cholera. This means the birds' functioning is affected by a nervous disorder that reveals itself in symptoms like it going in circles or trying to look skywards.
However, we will have to await the results of the tests in Bhopal laboratory." BNHS expert Dr Vibhu Prakash said: "The deaths are due to some bacterial infection. At the Chilka lake in Orissa, migratory ducks have died in large numbers last winter and this winter also.
Our team working at Chilka points to botulism, while other veterinarians are saying that the deaths were due to avian cholera.
I am not ruling out avian flu as the cause of deaths at the Sukhna lake because there have been cases of flu which does not display specific symptoms of bird flu." As many as 82 migratory ducks have died at Chilka this winter, including 69 Pintail ducks.
However, hundreds of migratory duck and geese have been reported dead in North America since 1970 from the dreaded avian cholera, which is not contagious for humans like the avian flu.
UT chief wildlife warden Ishwar Singh said: "We have given medication to the sick geese and they are showing signs of improving. We will also be asking BNHS to take samples from them for tests.?
[ 24 Jan, 2007 0231hrs ISTTIMES NEWS NETWORK ]
CHANDIGARH: The number of sick birds, both wild and domesticated, continues to mount at the Sukhna lake here, with the UT wildlife
department rescuing a large egret and a domesticated goose on Monday. While the egret showed signs of weak legs and was unable to fly, the goose was on the verge of collapse displaying sign of shivering and a drooping neck.
With Monday's rescue operation, the number of sick domesticated geese which live near the Lake Club has gone up to four. Twelve migratory wild birds have died since January 13 out of which the UT Wildlife department has managed to recover only nine, with two Spotbill ducks and a likely wood sandpiper going missing within hours of their discovery in the Sukhna marshes on January 13.
Along with the rescue operations, a team of expert bird trappers of the Bombay Natural History Society (BNHS) netted a Greylag goose, a Coot and a Northern Shovellor for blood sampling. The samples from a Ruddy Shelduck (Brahminny duck) trapped on Monday by Ali Hussain have been sent to the Regional Disease Diagnostic Laboratary at Jalandhar.
BNHS veterinarian Dr Debojit Das, who examined the sick geese, said, "The birds were displaying symptoms of a nervine disorder that is common to avian diseases like botulisim and cholera. This means the birds' functioning is affected by a nervous disorder that reveals itself in symptoms like it going in circles or trying to look skywards.
However, we will have to await the results of the tests in Bhopal laboratory." BNHS expert Dr Vibhu Prakash said: "The deaths are due to some bacterial infection. At the Chilka lake in Orissa, migratory ducks have died in large numbers last winter and this winter also.
Our team working at Chilka points to botulism, while other veterinarians are saying that the deaths were due to avian cholera.
I am not ruling out avian flu as the cause of deaths at the Sukhna lake because there have been cases of flu which does not display specific symptoms of bird flu." As many as 82 migratory ducks have died at Chilka this winter, including 69 Pintail ducks.
However, hundreds of migratory duck and geese have been reported dead in North America since 1970 from the dreaded avian cholera, which is not contagious for humans like the avian flu.
UT chief wildlife warden Ishwar Singh said: "We have given medication to the sick geese and they are showing signs of improving. We will also be asking BNHS to take samples from them for tests.?
