Newfoundland: Mysterious seagull deaths

National Post

ST. JOHN'S - Something is killing scores of seagulls in the Newfoundland capital. Environment Canada officials have picked up more than 200 dead or dying herring gulls from around St. John's over the weekend. An unknown toxin is killing the birds by affecting their central nervous system. A provincial veterinarian is examining the dead birds to identify the toxin. Environment Canada is recommending people give the gull carcasses a wide berth.

http://www.nationalpost.com/news.asp?s2=national&s3=westtoeast

-- Carl Jenkins (Somewherepress@aol.com), April 17, 2000

Answers

Reports of bird deaths, in swarms, have zoomed this year.

You've got to wonder: why?

-- Uncle Fred (dogboy45@bigfoot.com), April 17, 2000.

An article this morning attributes the toxins to possible illegal dumping at a landfill (more dead birds there than elsewhere.) The concern is that the toxins will go up the food chain--ravens have already been discovered as part of the affected bird group.

-- Rachel Gibson (rgibson@hotmail.com), April 18, 2000.

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Last updated: Tuesday 18 April 2000 NATIONAL NEWS

Body count rises, clues surface as vet dissects dead gulls in St. John's

MICHAEL MACDONALD

ST. JOHN'S, Nfld. (CP) - Food poisoning might be to blame for the sudden deaths of at least 500 gulls in the St. John's area, says Newfoundland's chief veterinarian.

"A lot of them have human food in their mouths - bits of hot dogs, potatoes, meat, peas, beans," said Hugh Whitney, who examined the bodies of several birds Tuesday.

"That seems to be the one common factor so far."

Scores of dead seabirds, almost all of them herring gulls, were first spotted Saturday near Quidi Vidi Lake, which is in the city's east end. The body count has climbed since then.

"This is the first large-scale die-off that we've dealt with," Whitney said.

At first, there was speculation the birds died after eating a poison substance illegally dumped at the city's main landfill at Robin Hood Bay.

While that remains a possibility, Whitney said there are forensic clues pointing toward botulism.

"You don't see anything (unusual) in the body," he said. "That tends to be one of the signs."

Whitney also noted that some of the sickly birds brought to him on Monday have since recovered.

"They're pretty perky this morning," he said. "But to confirm botulism is not an easy thing. There may be only one or two labs in the country that can assist me on this."

Pierre Ryan, spokesman for the Canadian Wildlife Service, said it has been at least a decade since he has seen so many dead birds. The last time this happened, an agricultural pesticide was to blame.

But Whitney stressed food poisoning is fairly common among wild birds, particularly waterfowl.

Since 1996, tens of thousands of ducks and shorebirds have died of avian botulism at Whitewater Lake, Man. About 117,000 died in 1996 alone, but the numbers have declined steadily since then.

Avian botulism, which is not a health risk to humans, is a poison waterfowl consume when they eat maggots contaminated with the botulism toxin.

A study is currently under way to examine the causes of avian botulism outbreaks and whether collecting carcasses is effective at slowing down the spread of the disease. http://www.vancouversun.com/

-- Martin Thompson (mthom1927@aol.com), April 18, 2000.