Their corpses which floated or washed up on the banks moved the regulars of the Jardin des Plantes de Toulouse and aroused the concern of animal protection associations. At least eighteen ducks from the site were found dead in three weeks, struck by a mysterious illness. Who hasn’t been since this Tuesday morning. “This is avian botulism, a disease caused by bacteria and which, I insist, is not pathogenic for humans,” indicates Françoise Ampoulangemunicipal elected official in charge of “animals in the city”, after receiving analyzes from a specialized laboratory.
The first research carried out at the request of the town hall by the departmental directorate for population protection (DDPP) had ruled out the most probable hypothesis, that of avian flu. “We then requested a second, more in-depth analysis, which also turned out to be negative,” continues the municipal councilor. The next step consisted of analyzing the water from the garden ponds to detect the possible presence of cyanobacteria. This cause being ruled out in turn, it is therefore the third and final hypothesis which is verified.
“With the last heat episode, the rise in water temperature favored the development of the avian botulism bacteria and its transmission to ducks which wade and drink,” explains Françoise Ampoulange. As soon as the verdict was known this Tuesday morning, she contacted the National Veterinary School of Toulouse (ENVT), to “find out if there is an antibiotic treatment” or possible treatment to save the other ducks. “We do our best for our little animals. But these are wild animals, the agents cannot catch them like that,” specifies the elected official.
“The town hall must watch over them”
The association Paz, which had sounded the alarm on the worrying mortality of birds and estimated the damage at “at least twenty dead or dying birds”, does not share this analysis. “They’re not wild animals! These are so-called “liminal” animals. [pas totalement sauvages sans pour autant être domestiqués] which were put there on artificial bodies of water. The town hall must now watch over them and take care of them,” points out Amandine Sanvisens, its co-founder. She had just sent a letter to the town hall on Monday to demand transparency on duck “autopsies” and water analyzes.
The activist is not “surprised” by the appearance of avian botulism. “But there are prevention measures to put in place to oxygenate the water when its temperature increases and avoid eutrophication,” she says. The association hopes that a monitoring procedure will be put in place, and that it “will not be based solely on reports from residents sensitive to animal causes”. She will be “extremely vigilant” regarding the rest of the operations.