MYSTERY surrounds why a number of birds are dropping dead in a Welsh town.
An investigation has been launched after reports of numerous pigeons being found dead in Llanrwst.
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Garry Lloyd Jones, who raced pigeons as a teenager, found three dead birds in his yard on Sunday, and said he’s spotted dead pigeons around the town in the past couple of weeks.
In a Facebook post, Mr Jones questioned whether the cause could be poison or avian flu, with other people in the Conwy Valley commenting they had also seen dead pigeons.
He has since reported the matter to Conwy Council and the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra).
Mr Jones, who was formerly mayor of Llanrwst, said: “I found another dead pigeon on top of a bin in town.
“It really is very odd, and let’s hope it’s not poison or – perhaps even worse – avian flu.”
One woman commented on Mr Jones’ Facebook post saying: “I found two dead one by Sip Sioned, and the other by the Red Lion pub.”
Another Facebook user said her husband had found a dead bird in their garden in Trefriw, and another said she’d found two dead ones by the river in Llanrwst.
“I feed the pigeons every day and the birds are in a good condition. There’s usually around 80 to 100 of them, but yesterday only around 13 to 14 turned up.
“I’ve put two of the dead ones in the freezer so that Defra can inspect them.
“It’s worrying as I also had to put down two of our chickens. They lost weight and didn’t want to eat anything and, when I picked them up, they screamed.
“I’ve kept chickens all my life but I had no idea what was wrong with them.”
Defra has no alerts for wild birds in Wales for avian flu at present.
A spokesman said: “Where dead or sick wild birds are reported to the Defra helpline, we will investigate as necessary as part of our disease surveillance work.
“Results for dead wild birds that have tested positive for avian influenza are routinely published.”
Source: The Sun
