Louisville Zoo has temporarily closed several bird areas after a wild Canada goose found sick on zoo grounds tested positive for avian influenza. The zoo stays open, the closures cover a handful of habitats, and none of the birds in the zoo’s care are showing clinical signs of the disease.
The closures took effect on Thursday, October 22, and the zoo expects them to hold for the next several weeks, until the threat has subsided. Closed for now are the Forest Bird Trail, the African penguin exhibits in the Islands Pavilion, the Steller’s Sea Eagle Aviary in Glacier Run, Lorikeet Landing in Australia, and some areas around the zoo’s lake.
Why those areas and not the whole zoo?
Look at what the closed spaces have in common. Most of them are walk-through aviaries, habitats a guest enters on foot and shares with free-flying birds, rather than viewing through glass or mesh. In a walk-through aviary there is nothing between a visitor’s shoes and the ground the birds feed on.
The zoo’s own staff measures point the same way. Keepers who care for birds are now disinfecting footwear when they enter bird holding areas, on top of enhanced daily health monitoring and reporting. The thinking behind both moves is about what gets carried in and out on foot.
What the zoo says
“HPAI has been known in our region for the past few years and our animal care, veterinary and operations teams are trained and prepared to respond to emerging health concerns for the protection of our animals,” said Dan Maloney, Louisville Zoo director. “These temporary closures allow us to take a careful and proactive approach while ensuring guests can continue to enjoy a safe visit to the Zoo.”
“We continuously monitor avian influenza activity in our region and have established measures to reduce potential exposure to Zoo animals,” said Dr. Zoli Gyimesi, the zoo’s senior veterinarian.
What is HPAI?
Highly pathogenic avian influenza, commonly called bird flu, is a viral disease that primarily affects wild and domestic birds. It occurs naturally in wild bird populations and can spread to other birds and, occasionally, to other animals. Wild waterfowl and shorebirds can carry it, which is how a goose on a zoo lake becomes a zoo’s problem. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention currently assesses the risk to the public as very low.
Calgary Zoo faced the same decision in May and answered it differently, keeping its birds outside under a plan built for the same risk. There is no single correct response, and the shape of a zoo’s grounds and collection drives the answer.
What guests can do
Stop feeding the wildlife. The zoo asks visitors not to feed wild birds or other animals on grounds, for a specific and concrete reason: feeding geese and ducks encourages them to congregate in exactly the areas used by guests and by the zoo’s own animals. The wild birds are the route in.
One point on wording. The zoo’s announcement says the goose tested positive, while its own FAQ page describes the result as presumptive, with confirmatory testing at a federal laboratory still pending. We have used the more cautious of the zoo’s two phrasings. The response would be the same either way, which is why the closures went in before the confirmation came back.
Most of the zoo is unaffected and open on normal hours. What a visitor will find this month is a zoo running its own playbook early, which is the version of this story worth having.
Closure details and quotes come from Louisville Zoo’s October 22 announcement.
Quick answers
- Is the Louisville Zoo open during the avian influenza closures?
Yes. The zoo remains open on normal hours. The closures are limited to a handful of bird habitats.
- Which areas are closed at the Louisville Zoo?
The Forest Bird Trail, the African penguin exhibits in the Islands Pavilion, the Steller’s Sea Eagle Aviary in Glacier Run, Lorikeet Landing in Australia, and some areas around the zoo’s lake.
- How long will the bird areas stay closed?
The zoo says the closures will hold for the next several weeks, until the threat has subsided. No reopening date has been given.
- Have any Louisville Zoo birds caught avian influenza?
No. The zoo says none of the birds in its care are showing clinical signs, and its FAQ page says avian influenza has not been identified in any animal in its care. The positive result came from a wild Canada goose found sick on grounds.
- Is avian influenza dangerous to zoo visitors?
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention currently assesses the risk to the public as very low.
- What can visitors do to help?
Do not feed wild birds or other wildlife on zoo grounds. Feeding geese and ducks encourages them to gather in the areas used by guests and by the zoo’s animals.
