Inside Klamath Refuge's 'Duck Hospital': Crews save 2,000 birds infected with avian botulism
TULELAKE, Siskiyou County — In the past month, crews in airboats on Tule Lake in the Klamath National Wildlife Refuge have rescued roughly 2,000 birds infected with avian botulism, in an outbreak that is threatening millions of water and shorebirds. The infected birds have been rehabilitated and released near the refuge’s small inflow of freshwater.
By noon each day, the rescue teams have often filled their crates with birds in various stages of botulism poisoning. At the boat ramp, the birds are not unloaded. Rather, the rescue teams load the boats onto trailers and tow them straight to the rehabilitation site on the edge of the refuge, which they call the “Duck Hospital.”
The setup is much like that of an emergency room, with multiple treatment stations. A crew of wildlife rehabilitation specialists, volunteers and interns logs each bird, then makes a diagnosis, and prescribes a treatment regime. Last Friday, crew members counted 97 new patients.
With fresh water, food and shelter, and in some cases anti-toxins and vitamins, the birds respond quickly, say staff. As the ducks recover, they are moved to a large, plastic swimming tubs, often with floating mats, with a tent-like canopy enclosure to keep them calm and safe from intrusion.
“It’s incredible to see a duck so paralyzed that it can’t even hold its head out of the water, then a few days later, we let them out and they fly home,” said Molly Joyce, who has worked eight years as a wildlife rehabilitator.
https://www.sfchronicle.com/outdoors/article/Inside-Klamath-Refuge-s-Duck-Hospital-15533029.php
= new reply since forum marked as read
