Bird Flu in seabird colonies (1 Viewer)

[dantheman]

Farne Islands: Bird flu death toll passes more than 3,000

The National Trust says the scale of death on the Farne Islands has not been seen in nearly 100 years.

www.bbc.co.uk

On the Farne Islands. Very sad. Not sure what can be done at all ... ?

 

[stuartvine]

In the short term, not a lot can be done. The basic bio-security precautions that are being taken is about the best we can do. In the long term it would require the entire world to stop the intensive rearing of poultry (or invent a really inexpensive, universal, oral, bird flu vaccine) which probably isn't going to happen.

 

[kimmik]

Farne Islands: Bird flu death toll passes more than 3,000

The National Trust says the scale of death on the Farne Islands has not been seen in nearly 100 years.

www.bbc.co.uk

On the Farne Islands. Very sad. Not sure what can be done at all ... ?

Diseases only take one case to infect the entire world, so no there is no human intervention that will protect the global life form.

The only thing we can do is minimise our own ecological footprint and allow other secies the room and resources to be as strong and resilient as they can be. lower human population, less consumerism and less conflict. I fully understand the irony of me being alive and being part of the consumerism.

 

[JTweedie]

One of the things I was wondering was if this is affecting east coast colonies only? I've heard about Norfolk, Farne Islands, Bass Rock and Isle of May all having infected birds. Lunga on the west coast mentioned stopping landing on the island but they didn't mention any cases that were found, so this sounded more like a precaution.

Does anyone know if it's definitely affected any west coast colonies or into Ireland?

 

[Mono]

Grassholm in Pembrokeshire has been affected.

Avian flu confirmed as reason for 'suspicious' bird deaths on island

Several bird deaths on one of Pembrokeshire’s islands were caused by avian flu, Defra has confirmed.

www.westerntelegraph.co.uk

 

[JTweedie]

Thanks for confirming. I'd hoped in a way that the west coast had been spared.

 

[Loud Green Man]

It’s getting really bad now down here in the SW.

I spoke to a landowner this morning where I manage roe deer and he informed me the fields look like the Somme. Dead birds everywhere, geese, ducks, pheasants, buzzards, crows and seagulls, you name it.

LGM

 

[Owene]

Seem to be loads of cases in pheasants. Im sure there’s some legal loophole for why releasing infected birds is in no way legally liable though

 

[Andy Lakin]

Why the hell were the shooting fraternity allowed to release any game birds at all this autumn? Obviously we have known about the outbreak for many months before. Surely game shooting doesn't bring in that much money anyway. The game birds must come into contact with any poultry kept outside.on a very regular basis.

Afaik they can vaccinate intensively farmed chicks by spraying them, but that won't help the wild birds much.

 

[Farnboro John]

Why the hell were the shooting fraternity allowed to release any game birds at all this autumn? Obviously we have known about the outbreak for many months before. Surely game shooting doesn't bring in that much money anyway. The game birds must come into contact with any poultry kept outside.on a very regular basis.

Afaik they can vaccinate intensively farmed chicks by spraying them, but that won't help the wild birds much.

Tory government. And the real problem is the pre-release conditions: release time was always going to be biological WMD. Maybe for shooters that was the point: might lose a year's shooting but hammer the raptors and corvids.

John