A water bird caused a stir in Enns (Upper Austria): the animal suddenly crashed in the middle of a private garden. Experts believe a collision with a power line was responsible for the unusual crash.
The fear that the sky might fall on your head is largely unfounded. But an Ennser discovered on Wednesday that you are never completely safe outdoors. “I was already on my way to work when my neighbor called me and told me that a swan had just crashed in my garden!” The owner of the property, who wished to remain anonymous, immediately turned around and alerted animal control because the seriously injured bird was still alive. Unfortunately, the majestic animal died during the phone call.
“You should never attack animal corpses”
The police initially advised him to take the bird with him to use as a carcass, “but he cleverly did not do that,” praises Christopher Böck of the Upper Austrian Hunting Association. “You should never attack animal corpses or get too close to them. On the one hand, the animal could still be alive and snap at the person in panic. On the other hand, it could have fallen victim to a disease that can also be transmitted to humans.”
Everything clear for bird flu
Ultimately, a colleague of Böck’s collected the carcass. However, he was not checked for bird flu: “There is currently an all-clear. However, the disease in waterfowl can never be completely ruled out – if there is a second case, we will investigate it,” says Böck. The experienced hunter tends to assume that a collision or injury could have caused the beautiful bird to fall.
Ornithologist Stephan Weigl from the Biological Center also agrees: “Birds usually do not fall just like that, with birds of prey this only happens occasionally if they have caught poison. Illness is also quite unlikely, because when a bird is so terminally ill, it tends to hide somewhere instead of flying around.” Medical emergencies such as heart attacks have not really been studied, but cannot be completely ruled out either. “The most likely scenario for me is that the swan collided with a power line and then flew a little further before it could go no further.”
Source: Krone
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