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COURIER OPINION: Scottish Government must get to grips with bird flu crisis

The spread of bird flu is wiping out populations across Scotland. It's time the virus was given the consideration it deserves.

dead goose on a Scottish beach.
A dead goose on a beach in Scotland, where bird flu is now threatening the survival of some species. Image: Shutterstock.

It says a lot about the challenges facing society in Scotland that a bird flu outbreak so serious it threatens the very survival of some species has been able to fly so far under the radar.

It’s a point underlined yesterday by a new NatureScot report into the unfolding avian flu crisis.

The document is a troubling read, setting out the scale of the threat posed to wild birds.

Barnacle geese, which migrate from Norway to Scotland, are among the worst hit by bird flu.

roadside sign setting out bird flu control measures.
Bird flu sign on a road in Fife, Scotland. Image: Steve Brown/DC Thomson.

More than 13,000 are estimated to have died since the virus was first detected within their number in the autumn of 2021.

That figure means one-third of the known barnacle geese population has been wiped out in just 18 months.

And they are far from alone. Geographically separate barnacle geese populations have also been hit by bird flu in Scotland. And other seabird species and birds of prey are affected.

With the spread of the virus difficult to control once it has established itself in a bird population, there are concerns some species may be wiped out altogether by the outbreak.

That is a terrible prospect and one that deserves attention at the top table of Scottish life.

First Minister Humza Yousaf has much on his plate. But the NatureScot report is not something that can be ignored.

Scotland’s magnificent wildlife is an asset to the nation.

In good times and bad, that asset must be given the due care and attention it richly deserves.

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