The Dortmund Zoo had to announce sad news on Facebook: A total of 48 animals were euthanized there. The monk parakeet group in the popular zoo was affected.
It was a “very difficult decision”, said the zoo, but in the end it was apparently inevitable: the entire group of 34 specimens of the parrot species that lived in the zoo was euthanized, along with 14 other animals housed in an outstation were. The reason given by the zoo was the outbreak of the viral disease “Psittacine Beak and Feather Disease” (PBFD, German name: feather and beak disease of parrots).
The virus is “highly contagious, incurable and often fatal for parrots,” said the zoo in the Ruhr area, and explained the reasons for the drastic decision that was made in cooperation with the veterinary office. On the one hand, there was a high risk of infection for the other parrots and parakeets in the zoo. On the other hand, the disease is considered incurable.
The euthanasia was “there was no alternative” “so as not to endanger any other animals in and outside of our zoo”. After long discussions, all other options had to be discarded, the zoo asked for understanding from the visitors. The dead monk parakeets are now to be researched at the Düsseldorf University Hospital as part of a study on the brain development of parrots.
PBFD is the most common viral disease in parrots in Germany. According to the zoo, it is still unclear how the virus was introduced into the group of parrots in Dortmund. The virus may have gone undetected because of the long incubation period, which can last months or even years.
Source: Dortmund Zoo on Facebook / Freie Universität Berlin
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