21 Pelicans found dead ‘due to bird flu’ in Srebarna Nature Reserve, Bulgaria

The bodies of 21 pelicans were found in the Srebarna nature reserve in northeastern Bulgaria on Tuesday. The likely causes of the birds’ death are disease, poisoning or overpopulation of the colony, private bTV station reports. The reserve has a pelican colony consisting of 65 couples and during the inspection on Tuesday newly-hatched pelicans were discovered. Employees at the reserve and local residents claim that there has been no such mass death of birds until now. The pelican colony had not been inspected as the birds should not be disturbed during their nesting period. It was announced that the measures against bird flu, which had been introduced in the beginning of the year, will remain in force and monitoring of the reserve will continue. White immovable birds had been spotted through the reserve’s video surveillance system, but they were not identified until Tuesday. The regional environmental and water inspection in Ruse has informed the Ministry of Environment and Water of the incident.

Courtesy of novinite.com

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