(MY) at the ecopark

[Guest guest]

Tuesday March 28, 2006 - The Star

 

At the Ecopark

 

By TAN CHENG LI

 

When the H5N1 virus surfaced in the Ecopark of Bukit Merah Laketown

Resort in Perak, the immediate suspect was migratory birds since the

theme park is near Kuala Gula, an important wetlands site for

wintering birds.

 

The park management says its birds were housed in an aviary and thus

did not come into contact with any wild birds. Moreover, none had died

since March 9, the date when faecal samples which tested positive for

H5N1, were collected.

 

However, the suggestion that infected migratory bird could have

dropped their faeces when flying over or perching on the aviary seems

a bit far-fetched.

 

In the first place, the Bukit Merah lake is not a hotspot for water

birds. " You do see both resident and migratory water birds such as

Chinese pond herons and egrets but not in large numbers, " says

ornithologist Lim Kim Chye.

 

Also, not all birds in the park were housed in the aviary. There were

Muscovy ducks left swimming in the lake for visitors to feed. Perhaps

these ducks had been infected and then ventured close to the aviary?

 

And what about the park's exotic birds? Could they have come from

infected areas?

 

Park public relations officer Hanina Abdul Morat, however, says the

last bird purchase was in 2003 as international trade in wild birds

was banned after that following the first avian flu outbreak. The

birds were purchased from local traders.

 

She says tests for the virus started after the February outbreak in

Setapak, Selangor. All the birds in the park have since been culled –

over 250 birds from 39 species worth some RM200,000. Hanina says a

great loss was that of four macaws; each was worth up to RM30,000 as

they had been trained to perform tricks.