An operation to collect hundreds of dead Dalmatian pelicans killed by avian flu, using stringent biosecurity measures, was underway in northern Greece on Saturday, around the Prespa Lakes, as well as Lake Chimaditida, Kastoria and Zazari.
Talking to the Athens-Macedonian News Agency (ANA), the Deputy Mayor of Amynteos Eleni Gyriki, said that 80 dead birds had been collected by fishermen going out on their boats, and placed in special bags to minimise transmission of the virus in order to be incinerated.
An operation by a private company on Little Prespa, which is in its fourth day, has so far collected 748 dead pelicans. This is where the problem is most acute, as the reed beds in the lake house one of Europe's largest colonies of pelicans. The aim is to contain the pandemic before the second wave of migrating birds arrives at the lake in April.
Operation in Greece to collect hundreds of pelicans killed by flu pandemic underway
