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A polar bear has been killed by bird flu as the highly contagious H5N1 virus spreads into the most remote parts of the planet.
The death was confirmed in December by the Alaska Department of Environmental Conservation. “This is the first polar bear case reported, for anywhere,” Dr Bob Gerlach, Alaska’s state veterinarian, told the Alaska Beacon.
It was found near Utqiagvik, one of the northernmost communities in Alaska, two years after this latest strain was detected in North America. Gerlach said it was likely the bear was scavenging on the carcasses of infected birds.
Polar bears are listed as “vulnerable” on the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) red list of endangered species, mainly due to the loss of sea ice.
www.theguardian.com
The death was confirmed in December by the Alaska Department of Environmental Conservation. “This is the first polar bear case reported, for anywhere,” Dr Bob Gerlach, Alaska’s state veterinarian, told the Alaska Beacon.
It was found near Utqiagvik, one of the northernmost communities in Alaska, two years after this latest strain was detected in North America. Gerlach said it was likely the bear was scavenging on the carcasses of infected birds.
Polar bears are listed as “vulnerable” on the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) red list of endangered species, mainly due to the loss of sea ice.
Polar bear dies from bird flu as H5N1 spreads across globe
Current outbreak, which started in 2021, is estimated to have killed millions of wild birds and thousands of mammals globally
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