The Philadelphia Zoo and other zoos across North America are moving their birds indoors and away from people and wildlife as they try to protect them from the highly contagious and potentially deadly avian influenza.
"Eagles, the emus, the penguins, the flamingos. If you think about all the animals of bird species we have at the zoo, they all are being housed indoors right now," said Rachel Metz, with the Philadelphia Zoo.
"It would be extremely devastating," said Maria Franke, who is the manager of welfare science at Toronto Zoo, which has less than two dozen Loggerhead Shrike songbirds that it's breeding with the hope of reintroducing them into the wild."We take amazing care and the welfare and well being of our animals is the utmost importance. There's a lot of staff that has close connections with the animals that they care for here at the zoo.
So far, no outbreaks have been reported at zoos, but there have been wild birds found dead that had the flu. Sarah Woodhouse, director of animal health at Omaha's Henry Doorly Zoo and Aquarium, said she is optimistic after talking with state and federal regulators. "Euthanasia is really the only way to keep it from spreading," said Luis Padilla, who is vice president of animal collections at the Saint Louis Zoo."That's why we have so many of these very proactive measures in place."
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