Bird flu scare in Kaziranga, birds found dead

GUWAHATI - A bird flu scare has hit the Kaziranga National Park in Assam with carcasses of at least a dozen migratory Bar-headed Geese found in the sanctuary, officials said Friday.

A park warden said at least seven geese were found dead Friday. Five carcasses of the same species that had recently arrived at the sanctuary from Siberia were recovered Thursday.

“A team of experts, including veterinarians, are carrying out post-mortem of the birds and samples would be sent to Bhopal to find out if the deaths were due to avian influenza or some other disease,” a park ranger told IANS.

“We are worried as other birds and animals might be hit if avian influenza spreads in the park. We have issued an alert asking forest guards to look out for dead birds or animals,” an official said.

All the deaths were reported from the Agoratoli range in the sanctuary.

The 430-sq km park, home to the world’s largest concentration of the one-horned rhinos, is also a birding paradise with more than 300 species of birds, including around 100 species of migratory birds.