Botulism is almost certainly the pathogen behind the recent mass die-off of black-faced spoonbills at a reserve Tainan County, said Council of Agriculture (COA) Chairman Lee Chin-lung (
"We are almost certain that the dead rare birds contracted botulism from eating dead fish and shrimps," Lee said.
This initial conclusion has helped ease worries that the mass die-off of the migrant birds might have been caused by avian flu and thus might trigger an epidemic, Lee said.
The College of Veterinary Medicine at National Chung Hsing University has been helping to rescue the sick birds.
Major world wildlife conservation organizations are also expected to send experts to Taiwan in the near future to assist in protecting and conserving the birds, Lee said.
Many of the black-faced spoonbills that spend the winter at the Chiku wild bird sanctuary at the mouth of the Tsengwen River became sick around Dec. 9. As of yesterday, 50 of the endagered species had died. Twelve birds are still sick but are all in a stable condition.
Based on an initial autopsy report, Lee said, a group of animal disease experts, biologists and conservationists had come to a conclusion earlier in the day that the birds had succumbed to botulism after eating dead fish and shrimps.
He said the researchers had ruled out intentional poisoning, pesticide contamination and other viral infections as the pathogen behind the deaths.
The National Institute for Animal Health (NIAH), the Taiwan Endemic Species Research Institute (TESRI) and other livestock research bodies are still examining autopsy samples.
"A final investigative report will be available next Monday," Lee said. "By then, we'll have been able to make a definite identification of the pathogen responsible."
Meanwhile, NIAH Director Lin Shih-yuh said he is "99 percent" certain that the dead black-faced spoonbills were victims of botulism.
Quoting the initial autopsy report, Lin said there were small fish and shrimps in the stomachs of the dead birds. Their digestive systems did not show any abnormal symptoms, but laboratory mice injected with a solution made from samples taken from the stomachs of the dead birds all died within hours.
Lin said all the rescued black-faced spoonbills showed symptoms of clostridium bacteria infections. Bacteria of the genus clostridium kill more wild birds each year than any other germ, he added.
Noting that clostridium bacteria exist in carcasses and rotten plants, Lin said he suspects that the food supply at the Chiku wetlands might be insufficient, prompting hungry black-faced spoonbills to eat dead fish and shrimps.
Each year, a large number of the birds from the Korean Peninsula and northeastern China spend the winter at the Chiku wetlands.
A record number of 700 have arrived so far this year, but this is the first time that a number of them have died en masse.
While striving to conserve the species, Lin said, the government should devote efforts to the development of food sources to protect them from falling victim to botulism.
* So far 50 black-faced spoonbills have died.
* Twelve birds are still sick, but are in a stable condition.
* A final report will be released on Monday confirming the actual cause of the spoonbill deaths.
* Spoonbills enjoy the southern wetlands of Taiwan during the winter for their relative warmth.
* The birds spend the summer on the Korean Peninsula and in northeastern China
* A record number of 700 spoonbills have arrived so far this year.
US climber Alex Honnold is to attempt to scale Taipei 101 without a rope and harness in a live Netflix special on Jan. 24, the streaming platform announced on Wednesday. Accounting for the time difference, the two-hour broadcast of Honnold’s climb, called Skyscraper Live, is to air on Jan. 23 in the US, Netflix said in a statement. Honnold, 40, was the first person ever to free solo climb the 900m El Capitan rock formation in Yosemite National Park — a feat that was recorded and later made into the 2018 documentary film Free Solo. Netflix previewed Skyscraper Live in October, after videos
Starting on Jan. 1, YouBike riders must have insurance to use the service, and a six-month trial of NT$5 coupons under certain conditions would be implemented to balance bike shortages, a joint statement from transportation departments across Taipei, New Taipei City and Taoyuan announced yesterday. The rental bike system operator said that coupons would be offered to riders to rent bikes from full stations, for riders who take out an electric-assisted bike from a full station, and for riders who return a bike to an empty station. All riders with YouBike accounts are automatically eligible for the program, and each membership account
NUMBERS IMBALANCE: More than 4 million Taiwanese have visited China this year, while only about half a million Chinese have visited here Beijing has yet to respond to Taiwan’s requests for negotiation over matters related to the recovery of cross-strait tourism, the Tourism Administration said yesterday. Taiwan’s tourism authority issued the statement after Chinese-language daily the China Times reported yesterday that the government’s policy of banning group tours to China does not stop Taiwanese from visiting the country. As of October, more than 4.2 million had traveled to China this year, exceeding last year. Beijing estimated the number of Taiwanese tourists in China could reach 4.5 million this year. By contrast, only 500,000 Chinese tourists are expected in Taiwan, the report said. The report
Temperatures are forecast to drop steadily as a continental cold air mass moves across Taiwan, with some areas also likely to see heavy rainfall, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. From today through early tomorrow, a cold air mass would keep temperatures low across central and northern Taiwan, and the eastern half of Taiwan proper, with isolated brief showers forecast along Keelung’s north coast, Taipei and New Taipei City’s mountainous areas and eastern Taiwan, it said. Lows of 11°C to 15°C are forecast in central and northern Taiwan, Yilan County, and the outlying Kinmen and Lienchiang (Matsu) counties, and 14°C to 17°C
RSS