Geese Fall Dead - 2,000 migrating snow geese have reportedly died in eastern Idaho, likely from avian cholera, causing them to fall dead from the sky while migrating to nesting grounds on the northern coast of Alaska, according to wildlife managers Monday.
The geese that fell dead were migrating from the Southwest and Mexico, according to the Associated Press.
Over the past several days, the Idaho Department of Fish and Game said staff and volunteers collected the geese all found in the Mud Lake and Market Lake Wildlife Management Areas in the southeast region of the state. They collected and burned the carcasses of the geese that fell dead in order to prevent other animals from picking up the disease, according to the Washington Post.
"Basically, they just fell out of the sky," Fish and Game spokesman Gregg Losinski told Reuters.
Losinski added that biologists were now waiting for the results from a state wildlife lab to confirm if the geese that fell dead died of avian cholera. The highly contagious disease is reportedly caused by bacteria that is able survive in soil and water for up to four months.
As for humans, Losinski said that we face only a small risk of contracting the disease and that wildlife in the vicinity of the contaminated carcasses are the ones facing immediate threat.
The U.S. Geological Survey said that early symptoms of avian cholera may include lethargy, convulsions, a discharge from the mouth, matted feathers and erratic movements on the ground and in the air. However, outbreaks are reportedly only spotted after birds, such as the 2,000 geese that fell dead, have died from it.
It remains unclear where the geese that fell dead picked up the bacteria, according to Fish and Game spokesman Steve Schmidt.
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