Should wild birds be culled?
No. Officials from the World Health Organization, the United Nations
Food and Agricultural Organization, and the World Organization for
Animal Health agree that culling wild birds is unlikely to stop the
spread of disease. Control measures should be focused on the poultry
industry because it is among crowded poultry flocks in close contact
with humans that the virus is most likely to mutate to more harmful
forms and spread to humans and other wildlife.
For these same
reasons, destroying an entire ecosystem by draining wetlands would be
completely unwarranted. Draining wetlands could also increase the
dangers for wild birds by taking away important refuge areas, causing
them to become stressed and more susceptible to disease when forced to
move to new, possibly more crowded, areas. If infected birds are forced
to disperse, it could also increase the likelihood that they would
bring the virus to new areas.
See entire Q&A list