Given an almost-record number of cases of avian flu recently reported by the Centers for Disease Control, officials from the Hattiesburg Zoo are taking precautions to ensure that disease does not make its way to the zoo’s resident birds.
Rick Taylor, executive director of the Hattiesburg Convention Commission – which runs the zoo – stressed there are no cases of the virus at the zoo. But now that cases have been reported as close as Lawrence County, which is less than 80 miles away from Forrest County, measures are being implemented to protect the animals.
“(We said that) if it got within about 250 miles of Hattiesburg, that there were certain precautions we were going to begin to take with the birds that are susceptible,” Taylor said. “Now that there’s migration, there are birds that carry things that are coming down the Mississippi River as they migrate south, and they’re bringing it a little closer.
“So what we’ve done is, birds that are highly susceptible to it – some of our tropical birds, our flamingoes – we’ve either brought them inside or we’re barricading off the tops (of the exhibits) so other birds couldn’t come into their yards. It’s transmitted through water and through fecal material, that sort of thing, so we just want to make sure that they are separated from any potential carriers, now that it’s gotten close to us.”
Taylor expects the measures to last approximately 21 days, or three weeks, at which point officials will reassess the situation.
“We’ve been watching this for almost the entire year, and it got a little more intense in the spring, but it never got into Mississippi (until now),” he said. “So the (Mississippi Department of Wildlife, Fisheries and Parks) is tracking that sort of thing.
“It did get into Mississippi with the migration of waterfowl (going) south, so that’s what prompted our action. Jeremy Cumpton, our head of education and wildlife, and Kristen Moore, our lead animal curator, had a plan already in place, which was if it got close, this is what we would enact. Even with the cold weather, (guests) wouldn’t normally see the tropical birds anyway, but those (precautions) are brought in for that reason.”
According to the CDC website, as of November 3 the United States was approaching a “record number of birds affected compared to previous bird flu outbreaks.” Since early this year, more than 49 million birds in 46 states have either died from the virus or have been culled because of exposure to infected birds.
The number of affected birds this year is approaching 50.5 million, which is close to the largest outbreak of the bird flu that occurred in 2015. In that year, affected birds were counted in 21 states; this year; that number of states has more than doubled.
“It can be deadly to the birds themselves,” Taylor said. “Our ability to keep it spreading amongst the flock – if one or two of our flamingoes got it, we have a real risk of it getting into the entire flock. So it’s certainly our obligation to do everything we can, and in this case, especially with the weather, it’s least impactful, I think.
“So we’re very fortunate that it didn’t come earlier in the year when the weather was warmer and people are out and that sort of thing. So it shouldn’t adversely impact a visit to the zoo. Certainly, what we encourage people to do is talk to our zookeepers about it – it’s a great way to learn about how certain activities occur in the natural world, and how they impact the native populations and the wild populations, and those of zoos as well.”
