Fota Wildlife Park in Co Cork is to close on Tuesday and Wednesday as a precautionary measure following the suspected outbreak of avian flu.
The park is home to hundreds of captive exotic birds as well as thousands of free flying native species.
It is understood a vet became concerned when three geese at the wildlife park were found dead.
They have been sent for testing at the State Laboratory in Co Kildare to see if they had contracted the highly contagious virus.
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Fota Wildlife Park, which opened in 1983 and attracts more than 400,000 visitors annually, is home to several species of exotic birds as well as dozens of native species that feed and nest throughout its 40 hectares of grass and woodland near Belvelly in east Cork.
Among the many exotic birds benefiting from conservation breeding programmes at the park, located 10km from Cork city, are Chilean flamingos, Indian peafowl, Humboldt penguins, great white pelicans, white-tailed sea eagles and ostriches.
The wildlife park is also home to free-roaming native birds such as magpies, jackdaws, greylag geese, mallard ducks, common wood pigeons, moorhen, black-headed gulls, little egrets, robins and wrens.
If tests confirm the geese at Fota died as a result of avian flu then it will be the second outbreak of the disease in Cork in the space of a month, following another at the Lough area of Cork city toward the end of September.
Cork City Council confirmed on September 23rd that an outbreak of bird flu was circulating among the wild birds at the Lough, a freshwater lake which is located between Ballyphehane and Glasheen, popular with walkers and the general public.
According to a Cork City Council statement, the highly pathogenic Avian Influenza HPAI (H5N1) was detected after tests were conducted on birds found dead at the four-hectare lake.
“Bird flu or avian influenza is a viral disease which affects the respiratory, digestive and/or nervous system of many species of wild birds and poultry. It is highly contagious among birds and it is a notifiable animal disease,” the council said.
Together with the Cork Society for Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (CSPCA), the local authority was providing expert advice to the Department of Agriculture, which has responsibility for avian influenza testing in Ireland.
Intensive monitoring and surveillance of the birds at the Lough was ongoing and agreed protocols were in place to ensure the swift removal of sick or dead birds from the area.
The council warned that the avian influenza virus can survive for several weeks in the environment because the faeces of infected birds contained a high level of virus. An area can remain infective whether or not bird carcasses are removed from an area.
