Duck capture disappointment
South Waikato District Council is disappointed that the team from the Wellington Bird Rehabilitation Trust was unable to find any sick ducks to rehabilitate during the recent sweep of Lake Moananui in Tokoroa.
On the plus side, there are plenty of thriving healthy ducks at the lake.
"We were thrilled when they called us," said Kerry Fabrie, Communications Manager. "Our Parks team and Animal Control team worked together to assist, but sadly - we were all disappointed - when only more dead ducks were found."
Council acknowledges the evident passion and commitment of the team from Wellington and hopes to work with them in the coming summer season, earlier in the season, should the ducks at the lake show signs of botulism.
"Everybody has done their best to try and help out with this sadly natural occurrence and although Wellington Bird Rehab Trust and SWDC were unable to save any sick ducks this time both our Trust and SWDC are so much better prepared for the next inevitable occurrence and we look forward to working with SWDC again," said Craig Shepherd of the Wellington Bird Rehab Trust.
"The learnings from this occurrence will with the help of the public reduce that botulism risk and increase the chances of a more successful outcome when the next botulism event occurs. We hope that other councils will be so supportive as SWDC have been with their help this time and attempts to mitigate the problem in the future"
"The team from the Bird Rehabilitation Trust gave us some helpful advice on managing the situation, which we will look at going forward," said Janine Field, Council's Parks Manager.
"The botulism hit Lake Moananui ducks unusually hard this year," said Ms Fabrie. "We encourage people to let the ducks forage for themselves, but if people do want to feed them, particularly bread, feed them on land, not in the water."
Avian botulism is caused when the bird eats toxin produced by Clostridium botulinum bacteria. The diseases causes paralysis and often results in death. It occurs naturally in ponds, lakes and wetlands and is harmless until the right environmental factors occur. It is not a threat to humans.
When bread is thrown into the lake, if it is not eaten by the ducks at the time, it sinks to the bottom and rots. This then promotes the growth of botulism bacteria.
Council appreciates the distress that sick and dead ducks has caused its community and continues to encourage people to notify us of sightings. Council will be including some appropriate education signage at the lake in the coming months and will conduct an education campaign in the lead up to next summer. Ends: words: 437
