Bird flu claims 83 Thai tigers

2004-10-24 08:30

Bangkok - Another 30 tigers have died from bird flu or been culled at the world's largest breeding farm in Thailand, taking the death toll from an outbreak there to 83, health officials said on Friday.

The endangered young royal Bengal tigers began dying on October 14 at the private Sri Racha Tiger Zoo in an outbreak believed to have started when animals were fed raw infected chickens.

"There are 83 tigers that have died at the zoo now including 50 that were put to death after they had shown symptoms, in order to contain the spread of the virus," Saravudh Suvannababba, head of Thailand's bird flu prevention centre, told AFP.

The governor of Chon Buri province southeast of Bangkok, where the zoo is located, said the outbreak had been largely brought under control.

Thailand's bird flu prevention centre reported however that another five tigers were sick and being treated with human anti-virus drug therapy.

"As of now there are five tigers that are still ill and they are being treated," the centre said in a statement.

Officials at the zoo, whose tiger population before the outbreak stood at 441, said the culled animals were put down by lethal injection.

They were buried in pits behind the zoo that were covered with lime and concrete to prevent them from being dug up.

- AFP