First bird flu cases in wildfowl reported in Los Angeles County this year
A duck and a hawk flying over the Los Angeles Zoo, March 10, 2012. (JOSH EDELSON / ERIC M. TILT NEWS)
California Department of Fish and Wildlife officials are investigating a wild bird case that sickened at least six ducks but did not spread to the wild bird population at this time.
A wild bird struck the head of an 18-day-old domestic hens Thursday morning at the Los Angeles Zoo in West Hollywood, killing the mother and injuring two of her five eggs.
In California, the state Department of Fish and Wildlife and the Los Angeles County Wildlife Center is investigating the death of an adult bald eagle by an eagle attack at the San Diego Zoo in California, officials said.
A California Department of Fish and Wildlife official told KABC-TV that no birds have died in a wild bird case in Los Angeles County this year, but he said officials are investigating.
The case began when a female domestic hen that had been in the care of the Los Angeles County Wildlife Center flew into a glass window at the Los Angeles Zoo, injuring the mother and two of five eggs.
Zoo officials euthanized the mother but kept one egg for further study.
“That one came up positive so they are trying to figure out what to do with it,” said Los Angeles County Wildlife Center supervisor Bruce Adams, who did not have a complete list of the birds.
Adams said he believes the dead mother could have been from the breeding program at the Los Angeles Zoo, and the sickened chicks might have been from a colony of wild chickens that were housed there.
“We have no definitive word on that or on any of the other birds or their eggs,” said Adams.
Officials believe the same person or people were responsible for the eagle attack, and that they could have been trying to steal the eggs to sell or perhaps for their pet birds, Adams said.
Although the Eagle County incident is being investigated by officials, the situation has not ended with the Los Angeles Zoo incident, Adams said.
“The good thing is it’s over with so we don’t have to deal with it anymore, but