FWD: Society: Close wild bird markets to curb disease

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This article is from The Star Online

URL:

http://thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2004/2/9/nation/7270731 & sec=nation

 

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Monday February 9, 2004

Society: Close wild bird markets to curb disease

 

 

KUALA LUMPUR: The Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) has called for the closure

of Asia & #146;s wild bird markets to further reduce the spread of the avian flu.

 

Director of WCS Malaysia Programme Dr Melvin Gumal said large numbers of wild

and domestic birds were kept in close quarters in markets allowing diseases to

jump between wild animals, livestock and ultimately humans.

 

& #147;The birds are caged in stressful and unhygienic conditions, which provide

the ideal conditions for transmission of disease, & #148; he said.

 

He expressed concern that policies calling for widespread killing of birds

living in the wild to prevent disease would do more harm than good.

 

The New York-based WCS, which operates conservation programmes in more than 15

Asian countries including Malaysia, said trade in wild birds for the pet and

songbird trade in Asia was vast.

 

For example, in Bangkok & #146;s weekend market, 70,000 birds representing 276

species from Asia, Australia, Africa and South America were sold over six months

alone.

 

In one market in Java, between half-a-million and 1.5 million wild birds were

sold each year.

 

The WCS also said that killing free-ranging wildlife would not solve the

problem, and could have many unforeseen repercussions.

 

For example, it stated that large-scale killing of sparrows and crows during

the Great Leap Forward in China in the late 1950 & #146;s resulted in failed rice

crops and massive famine because the birds had actually been controlling pests.

 

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