30 crows fall prey to strange disease

No bird flu, says animal husbandry dept.

Nearly 30 crows have died in Ghatkopar and other places in the last one month due to a strange disease.

Abhay Rane, who works for Mangalvardhini, an animal welfare organisation based in Ghatkopar, said, “These days crows are getting fever. They drop neck and can’t fly due to weakness. We have doctors who treat the rescued crows and then release them. But nearly 30 crows could not be saved. When they die, we bury them.’’

Nine crows and other birds were being treated at the centre on Saturday.

The centre treats birds, cats and dogs in places between Mulund and Sion. On Friday, two crows fell from a tree in Pantnagar. They were brought to the centre, said an animal keeper.

Meanwhile, in Thane more than 10 pond herons had died earlier this week, while in Nandurbar district of northern Maharashtra, nearly 800 poultry had succumbed to a disease.

The state’s animal husbandry commissioner, Sachindra Singh, said that the samples from Nandurbar had been sent to Bhopal to verify whether these birds suffered from bird flu.

In Latur, 200 poultry have died, and crows have died in Dapoli in Maharashtra, too. The animal husbandry department maintains that bird flu has still not been detected in Maharashtra.