Bird Flu
Last weekend was quite nervy for me, as I had heard various stories about dead birds being found thoroughout the island. As this is one of my areas of responsibility, the press were coming to me seeking answers - to which I had none.
I held off from making any public comment until I had more information, but unfortunately, information is a precious commodity. Or at least, accurate information was.
The bottom line is that the whole of Scotland saw a rash of dead bird sightings, all of which were reported and had to be investigated. It appears that there were no extra or unusual deaths, just more people seeing dead birds for the first time. This is not unexpected, and the issue is to place the risk in perspective.
My view is that there will be another outbreak sooner or later, and when it happens we will have to slaughter large numbers of wild and domesticated birds in the surrounding area, and make the area a "no-fly" zone. This means guns and shooting - and in the context of the Western Isles, some difficult decisions for the RSPB amongst others.
The risk to humans is so low as to be negligible, and at present you are at more risk crossing the road. Place it in that context, and it beomes a fuss about nothing; but, one risk we must prevent growing or getting out of control.
I held off from making any public comment until I had more information, but unfortunately, information is a precious commodity. Or at least, accurate information was.
The bottom line is that the whole of Scotland saw a rash of dead bird sightings, all of which were reported and had to be investigated. It appears that there were no extra or unusual deaths, just more people seeing dead birds for the first time. This is not unexpected, and the issue is to place the risk in perspective.
My view is that there will be another outbreak sooner or later, and when it happens we will have to slaughter large numbers of wild and domesticated birds in the surrounding area, and make the area a "no-fly" zone. This means guns and shooting - and in the context of the Western Isles, some difficult decisions for the RSPB amongst others.
The risk to humans is so low as to be negligible, and at present you are at more risk crossing the road. Place it in that context, and it beomes a fuss about nothing; but, one risk we must prevent growing or getting out of control.
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