ITV News published this video item, entitled “Avian flu expected to halve world’s largest gannet colony’s population | ITV News” – below is their description.
Warning: This video may contain some images that views could find distressing.
Thousands of dead seabirds have been washing up on shores across Scotland as bird colonies continue being ravaged by Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza (HPAI).
Bass Island is home to around 150,000 northern gannets, the largest colony in the world, a population that is expected to drop by more than half due to avian flu.
International wildlife experts had judged that the gannets were among the least vulnerable to the flu, but the birds have been washing up on coastlines across Scotland.
This new variant of avian flu which had initially been discovered in poultry, is being tipped as one of the UK’s largest ever outbreaks and is now causing a devastating impact on seabirds.
In 30-years of conservation Susan Davies of the Scottish Seabird Centre has “never seen anything like it.”
ITV News YouTube Channel
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