BirdLife Australia has launched a national campaign to alert birders and non-birders alike to the imminent dangers of H5 Bird Flu. Australia is the only continent that has so far escaped the virus; populations of wild birds have crashed around the world.
Several Red-necked Stints have already arrived on the Surf Coast at the end of their long journey from the Northern Hemisphere. Bird migration is the way H5 Bird Flu will invade. Recent suspected outbreaks in the Crozet/Kerguelen islands have raised fears for bird populations on Australia’s Heard and Macquarie Islands.
When the virus reaches Australia wildlife and agriculture will be hard hit, particularly among birds and mammals associated with water: penguins, ducks, swans, shorebirds such as our Hooded Plovers, seabirds and species like eagles that scavenge on them.
Alert readers will recall a News article in spring last year outlining how best to help contain any H5 Bird Flu outbreak. Here again is the BirdLife advice:
H5 Bird Flu: Avoid, Record, Report
AVOID contact with sick or dead wildlife and their immediate environment. Observe from a distance, be aware and don’t allow pets to touch or eat sick or dead birds
RECORD what you see, the location the animal was found, and take photos or video, if possible, without approaching the bird
REPORT any unusual illness or death in wild birds and other wildlife immediately, put this number in your phone:
Emergency Animal Disease Hotline on 1800 675 888
James Orton