Nine flamingos found dead in western Meles Delta
İZMİR
Some nine flamingos were found dead on an isolated land near the Meles Delta in the Bayraklı district of the Aegean province of İzmir on March 28.
“At first sight, we thought they were poisoned to death, but after the examinations, we found out the cause of death was not poison,” said Ürgen Tepe, a coordinator in the veterinary services of the Çiğli Municipality.
The flamingos were said to be living in the 8,000-hectare İzmir Bird Paradise in the Çiğli district.
According to the official, there may be three reasons for the deaths of the birds.
“They may have died due to radioactivity, electrical shock, or a natural event,” said Tepe, who delivered the dead birds to the veterinary services of the İzmir Metropolitan Municipality for further tests.
“Nine of them fell to death in the same area at the same time… This is totally against the life flow. We will figure out the cause of the deaths after some research,” Tepe added.
İzmir Bird Paradise is home to 291 species of birds including flamingos, dalmatian pelicans, small white herons, grey herons, storks, reed harriers, kestrels, Eurasian coots, rural pipits, kingfishers, poyraz birds, Eurasian thick-knees, little terns, owlets, Calandra larks, crested larks, black-winged stilts, spur-winged plovers, black-tailed godwits and redshanks.
As a significant Eurasian-African migratory route, the area was certified as a protected area for waterfowl conservation and breeding ground in 1982.
