Columbus Zoo tightens precautions to protect animals from bird flu, closing some exhibits.
In Powell, Ohio, the Columbus Zoo and Aquarium are implementing safety measures to protect their animals amid the ongoing bird flu outbreak sweeping through farms nationwide.
That means some exhibits may be closed, like the flamingoes or swans.
Dr. Randy Junge, the Vice President of Conservation Medicine at the Columbus Zoo, noted that they have been closely monitoring the bird flu situation since the initial outbreak in 2022. Initially, the virus was spread by migrating waterfowl, leading to outbreaks as the birds passed through central Ohio. However, more recently, the disease has become a year-round concern.
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As migrating birds return north from their southern summer habitats, Dr. Junge highlighted the increased risk of bird flu being transmitted by these traveling flocks as they make their way back to the area.
He has trained staff to keep an eye out for sick-looking ducks and geese that make it inside zoo grounds. Zookeepers are also discouraging those birds from staying around.
“We try to keep them out of the lakes, out of the exhibits. We try to discourage them from coming in and laying eggs and nesting in the exhibits,” Junge said. “Ducks obviously want to come in and share the food that we put out for the animals so we have to be vigilant of that.”
The zoo is keeping birds at an especially high risk of contracting the disease indoors, and placing wire or other deterrents in other exhibits.
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It’s not just the bird species that are at risk of developing disease.
“So it is possible to be picked up by non-birds that eat a carcass. So with native animals like foxes and coyotes, if they are eating dead ducks, they may contract bird flu and may die from it. We are very cautious that we don’t find any dead or ill birds in our exhibits,” Dr. Junge said.
In 2022, the zoo lost pelicans and swans to the disease.
This year, the prevention efforts have been working.
Dr. Junge said he is keeping an eye out for a vaccine that the USDA has in the works to vaccinate poultry. He said such a vaccine would be useful for zoo animals as well.
