Over 1,500 Sandhill Cranes Were Found Dead In Indiana Due To Bird Flu
In Indiana, more than 1,500 sandhill cranes were found dead due to the highly contagious bird flu strain H5N1. The birds are currently in the middle of their spring migration.
As they make the yearly journey north to breeding grounds in Canada, Alaska, and eastern Siberia, they stop to rest in areas across the Midwest like Indiana.
Recently, biologists from the Indiana Department of Natural Resources have counted hundreds of dead sandhill cranes throughout the state.
At least 500 birds were found dead in early January in Jackson County, located in the south-central part of the state.
Since then, additional deaths have been reported in other parts of Indiana. Officials say that 1,500 deaths is most likely an underestimate.
The birds are being killed by the H5N1 strain of avian influenza, which has been impacting the American poultry industry, resulting in higher egg prices.
The pathogen has been wiping out wild birds as well, including more than 5,000 snow geese in eastern Pennsylvania in January.
Wild birds that migrate in flocks are especially vulnerable to the strain, as it is highly contagious. Hopefully, the number of deaths will decrease this spring since the virus peaks in the fall and winter.
Volunteers wearing protective gear in northwest Indiana are doing their best to stop the spread. They are gathering the carcasses of sandhill cranes from frozen lakes and shorelines, double-bagging them, and disposing of them in a rented dumpster.
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They are also sanitizing equipment that is used to collect the bodies.
According to the American Bird Conservancy, about 650,000 sandhill cranes live in North America, and their population is growing. They are steel gray in color with distinctive red caps.
But whooping cranes, their close relatives, are endangered. Only around 800 of those birds still exist. Whooping cranes and sandhill cranes often share habitats, along with other waterfowl.
Experts are worried about the spread of H5N1 between the different species and how it will affect the whooping crane population.
In central Nebraska, biologists are tracking the recent sandhill crane deaths closely because roughly 80 percent of the total population of sandhill cranes spend time near the Platte River for their rest stops in February, March, and April.
So far, no dead or sick cranes have been reported in Nebraska. An estimated 15,000 sandhill cranes stayed in Nebraska for the entire winter.
Usually, the cranes only stay for part of the time, but warmer temperatures this winter have kept them around for longer.
Wildlife biologists across the country are urging the public to report any sick or dead animals they spot. For humans, the overall risk of infection is low, but in the U.S., 70 people have contracted the virus since 2022. The country announced its first human death from H5N1 bird flu in January.
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