COLUMBUS — A popular zoo in Ohio is taking precautionary measures to ensure the safety of its animals amid the current bird flu epidemic and it may lead to some exhibits being closed.
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Dr. Randy Junge, vice president of Conservation Medicine at the Columbus Zoo, told our news partner at WBNS that birds beginning to migrate back north bring back the risk of bird flu with them.
Junge said he has trained staff to keep an eye out for sick-looking ducks and geese that make their way inside zoo grounds.
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As WBNS reported, zookeepers are also trying to discourage those birds from staying around.
“We try to keep them out of the lakes, out of the exhibits. We try to discourage them from coming in and laying eggs and nesting in the exhibits,” Junge said. “Ducks obviously want to come in and share the food that we put out for the animals so we have to be vigilant of that.”
Birds that have an especially high risk of contracting the disease are being kept indoors. Wire and other deterrents will be placed in other exhibits, WBNS reported.
Junge said the birds are not the only species in the zoo that run the risk of contracting bird flu. He told WBNS that non-bird species could pick up by eating the carcass of an infected bird or other animal.
“So with native animals like foxes and coyotes, if they are eating dead ducks, they may contract bird flu and may die from it. We are very cautious that we don’t find any dead or ill birds in our exhibits,” Junge said.
The zoo lost pelicans and swans to bird flu back in 2022. So far this year, the prevention efforts have been working, according to WBNS.
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