Lucknow Zoo shuts bird enclosure after bird flu scare

Lucknow, Jan 11 : The Lucknow Zoo, known as the Nawab Wajid Ali Shah Zoological Garden, has shut down all bird enclosures following confirmation of bird flu in samples collected from the Kanpur zoo.
“We are ensuring preventive measures and keeping a close watch on the birds kept in the bird enclosure. No case (of bird flu) has been reported here, yet we are taking all the preventive measures. The virus spreads from the excreta of migratory birds and our efforts are to ensure that it does not come here,” Lucknow Zoo Director R.K. Singh said.
Bottles containing a solution of potassium permanganate have been kept at the gates of the zoo so that the visitors enter the premises disinfected, he said.
“We are also maintaining a watch on the birds’ enclosure. If any unusual behaviour is seen in any bird, it will be taken to the isolation ward,” Singh said.
Meanwhile, in Bareilly, arrangements to provide drinking water to migratory birds have been shut and reflectors are being installed at the Central Avian Research Institute (CARI).
“In order to ensure that migratory birds do not enter the CARI campus through the aerial route, reflectors are being installed on a war footing. The lower branches of the trees on the roadside have been cut, so that the birds do not drop their excreta on the road,” said Sanjeev Kumar, acting director of the institute.