Ornithologists warn about danger of birds’ slaughtering

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Birds slaughtering can contribute to development of bird flu’s epizootic, informed, on March 7, Director General of Wild Nature Protection Center Alexei Zimenko at press conference in Moscow. According to him, if in accordance with plan of bird flu prophylaxis in Russia, published by Rospotrebnadsor by the end of February, bird shooting will begin in their traditional nesting places, infected birds will look for more quiet places to eat and to rest and to distribute virus in new places.

“Injured and killed birds will be eaten by predators and ravens, and finally flu nidi will become wider, comparing with current local ones. In that way, we will help them to approach human settlements,” explained Zimenko.

According to him, shooting of birds is “meaningless, absolutely unrealizable and extremely expensive occupation”. If hunters’ wages will be paid on the same level, as watchmen’s and orderlies’ ones, more then 320 million rubles will be needed only for wages, added the Director of Wild Nature Protection Center.

This year, ornithologists advise not to begin spring hunting season at all. Struggle strategy against bird flu is the following one – leave them alone," he summarized. At the same time, Alexei Zimenko recommended to guard poultry from contacts with wild birds as far as possible, and not to let them swim in reservoirs.

Director of D.I. Ivanovskiy Research Institute for Virology of Russian Academy of Medical Sciences Dmitry Lvov, who participated in the press conference, agreed with Zimenko’s point of view, that bird’s slaughtering, aimed at struggle against bird flu, is meaningless. According to him, epizootic of bird flu will go over by itself, when “high pathogenic virus culture, held by birds, transform to low pathogenic ones.”