They could be carriers of avian flu
ILOILO City – The Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) is watching areas in Western Visayas frequented by migratory birds as a precautionary measure. There’s an avian influenza outbreak in several areas in Luzon.
DENR Region 6 executive director Livino Duran said the region has a lot of migratory birds, some of which no longer leave and become resident birds.
“We wanted to look into this because some of them are being eyed as possible carriers of the disease. For now, we cannot really conclude so dead migratory birds have to be handled very carefully and brought to the proper authority which is the Department of Agriculture (DA),” Duran said.
The DA, he said, has the equipment to determine if these birds are infected with any disease.
In Iloilo, migratory birds often visit wetland areas from the municipality of Leganes up to Dumangas.
In the region, the most number of migratory birds can be found in the Negros Occidental Coastal Wetlands Conservation Area (NOCWCA), which has a contiguous coastline spanning 52 coastal barangays in the province’s three cities and seven towns, said Duran.
The NOCWCA serves as a habitat for globally threatened species, extensive mangroves, and mudflats that serve as feeding grounds for thousands of migratory birds.
Its high biodiversity also supports the livelihood of coastal communities and serves as a major food source for Negros Occidental.
“That is the seventh Ramsar site (wetland of international importance) in the Philippines and is a diverse area when we talk about migratory birds,” said Duran.
Part of DENR’s monitoring is the regular bird count.
As the birds are tagged, their loop of destinations and origin can be easily identified.
Sometimes, Duran said, they are captured to place a tag on them so that when they travel to other countries, they could be traced to have visited the Philippines.
“The public is always advised to inform our authorities if there are dead migratory birds for them to be handled properly. The handling of migratory birds is similar to the handling of coronavirus disease patients,” Duran said. (PNA/PN)
