47 tigers, 3 lions and 1 panther died due to bird flu in Southeast Asian country Vietnam. AFP and CNA reported this in a report citing the country’s state-owned news agency Vietnam News Agency (VNA).
The dead tigers and lions were residents of the privately owned My Kain Safari Park in Vietnam’s Long An province and Vuon Joai Zoo in Dong Nai city. They died last August and September. Experts say the deadly type A virus of bird flu H5N1 is responsible for the death of these tigers and lions.
Journalists contacted the authorities of the Safari Park and Zoo for details, but the authorities refused to comment. According to various sources, the negligence of the officials and employees of the safari park and zoo is also responsible for the death of these tigers and lions.
According to Education for Nature Vietnam, a Vietnam-based NGO working on wildlife conservation issues, there were a total of 385 tigers in various safari parks and zoos in Vietnam as of last July. Of these, 310 were in various private safari parks and zoos and the rest in government park-zoos.
However, this is not the first time that a tiger has died due to bird flu. In 2004, more than 24 tigers died of bird flu at a tiger breeding center in Thailand. That center in Thailand is the largest tiger breeding center in the world.
According to the data of WHO, the UN’s global health security agency, since 2022, the spread of bird flu H5N1 virus in mammals has been increasing.
Sources: AFP, CNA
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