A black-faced spoonbill was put to sleep Friday after it was found to have been infected with the highly pathogenic avian flu.
An official with the Council of Agriculture, Chang Shu-hsien, said the government was forced to make the difficult decision because there was not a suitable place to isolate the bird. She also said keeping the bird in unsuitable places could lead to other animals being infected with the virus.
However, the Wild Bird Society of Tainan criticized the government’s decision. It said there are only about 3,000 black-faced spoonbills left in the world. An associate professor at Kaohsiung Medical University, Cheng Chien-chung, also said the government should set up a standard procedure to treat the sick birds, and not put any more of these endangered birds to sleep.