Birds dying at Rondevlei

GARDEN ROUTE NEWS - A number of different wild water birds have been found dead or dying in the Rondevlei area over the past five days.

A resident in the area who wishes to remain anonymous said her boys came home with a number of birds.

Nandi Mgwadlamba, spokesperson for SANParks, said they suspect avian botulism might be the cause of the bird kills. "Three years ago when similar symptoms were visible in birds, it was after a hot dry season followed by relatively wetter conditions. The cause is still unclear and will be investigated by our SANParks scientists. SANParks’ response has been to collect dead birds from the water and take samples for testing. The last time a similar outbreak occurred, it did not pose a threat to humans."

It is at present not clear how many birds have died so far.

The concerned resident said herbicide spraying has been carried out over the past week or two and wanted to know whether the herbicide could be the cause. "The birds dying may have nothing to do with the poison being sprayed. But just the fact that poison is being used as a solution to keeping the grass on the edge of the road in check in an area like this is pretty scary."