Over 1,200 sea lions die in Rio Negro due to bird flu outbreak

For several months, sea ​​lion Deaths hit country’s south coast during outbreak Avian Influenza.exist black riverMore than 1,200 mammals have died since the outbreak began.

The first case of this species was discovered in early August fire nationthe infection was then picked up by animals further north, even in ports Quacken and mar del plata, in the province of Buenos Aires. Over time, this highly pathogenic virus simply spreads to other species.

In this sense, as of mid-September, more than a thousand sea lion deaths have been recorded across the country. However, the epidemic is still ongoing and the number of people has increased significantly.

In the province of Rio Negro alone, the total number of registered cases of this species since the outbreak began is 1,200, 801 of which occurred in nature reserves. punta bermejaabout 45 kilometers away viedma. According to available information, the number of dead animals found at the site forced authorities to close the area to the public for at least 21 days. teram.

Punta Bermeja has a colony of one- and two-haired sea lions, considered one of the largest in South America, with more than 4,00 permanent sea lion specimens.

Likewise, the crisis committee explained that “in recent weeks, the overall mortality rate in the province, and in Punta Bermeja in particular, has shown a downward trend.”

In this regard, the Minister of Environment, Sustainable Development and Climate Change of the State of Rio Negro, Dina Miganiclearly stated that “except for nature reserves, Loberia and salt wellAmong them, sea lion mortality is declining. “

“The crisis committee meets every 15 days and starts by counting the number of dead wolves from each coastal area of ​​the city. Rio Grande Mountains To Biedma,” he added about how the provincial government is facing the epidemiological crisis.

In this sense, he mentioned that the committee contacted experts on the matter, who “recommended to move the bodies as little as possible to avoid the spread of the virus”.

“This is what we did, because of the activity of people and animals on the beaches, we worked with the municipality of Viedma to obtain machinery to remove and bury wolf carcasses, especially on the beaches of the resorts. Condorthe busiest “and closest to the capital of Rio Negro,” he clarified.

The most complicated situation was in Punta Bermeja, where carcasses of sea lions lay, prompting complaints from neighbors, local media reported. Diary of Rio Negro.

In response, the official explained that since this is a cliff area “it is impossible to go down with machinery”, she assured that the committee was conducting different pilot tests for the removal of bodies. “One of the alternatives we tried was to burn sea lion carcasses accompanied by volunteer firefighters to gauge how much fuel would be needed and whether that would be feasible,” he said. However, these attempts failed.

Now they are trying to “go down with a four-wheeler or a four-wheel crawler, through pallets and with the help of high waves, gather all the wolves in one place and see if the tide itself will carry away the carcasses.”

The area is one of the region’s tourist attractions, which is why businessmen are increasingly worried ahead of the summer. Faced with this, the Minister of Environment said that “people’s health is more important.” In the meantime, the remaining beaches remain open.

During the bird flu outbreak, Migani urged citizens to take necessary precautions to prevent the virus from spreading to more animals or even humans. Therefore, he advises “not to approach wolves and not to take pets to the beach” because “it is also not known whether mutations of the virus exist from mammal to mammal, a fact that could pose a risk to animals exposed to the virus” “. Pets or humans. ”