Ecuador: Galapagos Islands on alert to protect wildlife from bird flu

The Galapagos penguin, among the smallest penguins in the world.

Charles Darwin Foundation/AFP/File

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2 mins

Avian flu threatens South America.

The Venezuelan government declared a health alert, and in Peru more than 17,000 pelicans died on the coast.

In Ecuador, the zoo-sanitary emergency has been declared for 90 days and biosecurity measures will be implemented, such as the ban on moving hens, chickens and even eggs.

Ecuador is now seeking to protect the endemic fauna of the Galapagos Islands.

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With our regional correspondent

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The zoo-sanitary alert was decreed after the discovery of many dead animals in a poultry farm in the Andean province of Cotopaxi, on November 29.

Located more than 1,000 kilometers from the coast of mainland Ecuador, the remoteness of the Galapagos archipelago is currently its best protection.

The Ministry of the Environment, Water and Ecological Transition has activated a plan to prevent the arrival of avian flu, a pathogen against which there is no known cure.

While it is relatively easy to monitor entry to the Galapagos through its few airports and ports, authorities fear that migratory species could introduce bird flu from mainland Ecuador or Peru.

Galapagos National Park Director Danny Rueda said surveillance will be stepped up in areas of greatest seabird affluence, including all tourist sites.

Darwin's Vermilion Midge on Santa Cruz Island in the Galapagos Archipelago.

Parque Nacional Galapagos/AFP

Classified as a Natural Heritage Site, the Galapagos archipelago is home to a large number of bird species, some of which are endemic such as Galapagos penguins and cormorants, Darwin's finches, blue-footed boobies and albatrosses, which could be decimated by the arrival of avian flu.

The Galapagos cormorant.

Galapagos National Park (PNG)

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• Ecuador

• Wildlife

• Avian Flu

• Animal health