Marble Canyon, Ariz. — Three California condors have died from avian flu in northern Arizona and authorities are attempting to find out what killed 5 others within the flock, the National Park Service introduced Friday.

A sick feminine condor suspected of getting lead poisoning was discovered lifeless on March 20 and testing confirmed it had Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza (HPAI), the park service mentioned.

Two different birds later discovered lifeless additionally examined constructive, whereas check outcomes aren’t but accomplished for 5 others, the park service mentioned.

The birds are a part of a inhabitants that strikes all through northern Arizona and southern Utah, together with Grand Canyon National Park, the park service mentioned.

The Peregrine Fund, which manages the Arizona-Utah flock, additionally captured 5 different birds that appeared ailing and despatched them to a wildlife rescue in Phoenix. One fowl died and the opposite 4 have been quarantined, officers mentioned.

Exposure to the virus is anticipated to rise throughout the condors’ northward spring migration.

HPAI hasn’t been detected in different populations in California or Mexico’s Baja California, in response to the park service.

Avian flu happens primarily in birds together with home chickens, but it surely has been present in different animals, wild and home, in all U.S. states besides Hawaii.

Humans are thought of to be at low threat from HPAI, though there have been reported infections.

The California condor is likely one of the world’s largest birds with a wingspan of as much as 10 toes (3 meters). The birds as soon as patrolled the sky from Mexico to British Columbia. Condors can reside for 60 years and fly huge distances, which is why their vary can lengthen into a number of states.

The inhabitants plummeted to the brink of extinction within the Seventies due to looking, habitat destruction and lead poisoning from animals consuming shot with lead bullets.

In the Nineteen Eighties, wildlife officers captured the final remaining 22 condors and took them to the San Diego and Los Angeles zoos to be protected and bred in captivity. The birds have been then launched into sanctuaries and nationwide parks the place they are often monitored.

The birds have been protected as an endangered species by federal legislation since 1967 and by California state legislation since 1971.

California condors have been making a comeback within the wild and now occupy components of California’s Central Coast, Arizona, Utah and Baja California, Mexico. The complete wild inhabitants now numbers greater than 300 birds.

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