UPDATED: West Nile Virus claims 15 birds at Alberta Birds of Prey Centre in Coaldale

“We went to the Town of Coaldale and the Town of Coaldale asked that we not say anything about it until it was definitively confirmed by scientific testing.”

Coaldale Mayor Kim Craig says immediately upon hearing the news about the birds dying, they consulted with Alberta Health Services.

“Because there was no definitive proof of West Nile at that time, Alberta Health Services advised that it would send out messages through its normal zone social media platforms as a precautionary measure.”

Weir says their first priority was trying to save as many birds as possible, and it took them some time to gather the dead birds, find a testing facility at the University of Calgary, and to confirm what they believed was happening.

The results came back in late November indicating all the birds indeed died after being infected with the West Nile Virus.

Weir explains that they are now speaking about what happened not only because they lost so many valuable birds, but because those who live around the centre, including many seniors, should know about it.

“Local residents were probably more at risk than visitors, because a lot of mosquito activity happens in the evening. When people are walking their pets nearby, so there’s a lot more risk in the evenings for people than in the daytime.”

He adds that West Nile has not been a problem at the centre for many, many years- even though there is a pond next to the facility. He says in past years, fresh water would circulate in and out of it, reducing the chances for stagnation.

However, there is also a large Storm Water Management Project (Malloy Drain Stormwater Management Project) going on next to their site, and because of the construction, he believes that stagnant pools of water allowed to stand for the summer contributed to larger than normal mosquito populations.

“Because of the construction, they had drained all of the water from our wetlands. And that left little remnant pools of water in some of our ponds. And we think it was those shallow pools of water, that were probably the breeding ground for the mosquitos.”

LNN asked whether any testing was done in those shallow pools and the pond next to the Birds of Prey Centre. Weir said they requested the Town of Coaldale do some testing but did not know whether that occurred.

“We were hoping that they might just do even some minimal spraying or treating of the small pockets of water. But I don’t know if anything ever transpired with that.”

Craig says many years ago either the provincial government or Alberta Health had funding available for spraying for mosquito abatement, however the program was discontinued.

“So, the Town hasn’t actively had a program for spraying for a number of years. At the time of the incident, we were fully engaged and our town staff were quite active, and took a fairly proactive stance in trying to reach out to departments of Alberta Health, and other departments to get an idea of the best way to manage the situation going forward. So I can assure you, we were quite active in working on the situation.”

But Craig would not speculate as to whether they may also have been an increased risk of humans and pets contracting the West Nile Virus around the Birds of Prey Centre or the storm water project areas.

The centre will open as usual next year; however, it could take years to recover from the loss of the birds – one of which was just one-year-old, and others that were just a few years old. Some of the birds had thousands of hours of training and relationship building invested in them, added Weir.

“Our bald eagles for example, one of them that we lost was named Roosevelt and he was a bird that we used to fly a few to several times a day…so he was absolutely invaluable for us, for our public education programming.”

He doesn’t expect what happened last summer to occur again next year, because fresh water has replaced the stagnant ponds, and the Storm Water Project is moving along.

Weir hopes that what happened at the centre and around it, is a learning experience for not only them and the town, but for other communities in the future.

Craig also says the Town is concerned and sympathetic about the loss.

“The Town is certainly committed to the Birds of Prey Centre to identify the root cause of the incident and assist in the recovery, so the centre can remain open for many years to come.”

The centre is not funded by the Town of Coaldale, operates as a non-profit entity and is a registered charity that relies on donations to keep its doors open. For more information, go to http://burrowingowl.com/

**Lethbridge NewsNOW has also contacted Alberta Health Services for comment.**

by Lara Fominoff @LaraFominoff on Twitter

UPDATED: West Nile Virus claims 15 birds at Alberta Birds of Prey Centre in Coaldale

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