Mass bird deaths at Florida Lake

Barely a week after the Roodepoort Record reported on the rapidly receding water levels at Florida Lake, it has emerged that birds on the small bird island located just off the western shore were dying en masse.

The stench of death and decomposition hangs heavy in the air upon the Record’s visit. The island is littered with bird carcasses, abandoned eggs and nests – some occupied by chicks, but many empty.

For geese, it is nesting season. All over the island geese sit on their nests filled with eggs. Some are already dead, while others are not well.

A closer inspection reveals that Royal Ibis seems to have been the first to succumb since these carcasses are the most decomposed. Other carcasses belong to geese, cattle egrets, and great blue herons.

During the Record’s visit, a very ill blacksmith lapwing flapped around helplessly. It was so weak that it was relatively easy to catch. It was later handed over to Cora Bailey, owner of Community Led Animal Welfare in the hopes that it could be saved.

• Also read: Race to save the Florida Lake

The rapidly receding water level has made the island accessible on foot, with a stretch of dry land connecting it to the shore.

It has also revealed the extent of pollution, with empty bottles and cans, and every other kind of imaginable rubbish littering the now dry stretch of lakebed. The island itself was also littered with bottles and other assorted trash and the reedbed next to the island shows signs of a recent fire.

Upon her inspection of the site, Bailey expressed her disgust at the conditions.

“It is impossible to say what the birds are dying of, but it is clear that this has been going on for a while as some of the carcasses show signs of advanced decomposition.

“The falling water level may have something to do with it, but it could also be a disease.”

Bailey and her team removed some of the freshest carcasses and sent these off to a vet in hopes that a cause of death could be identified.

Dirk Engelbrecht from environmental conservation organisation Wild Serve, added that it is of the utmost importance to identify a cause of death as quickly as possible.

“The rainy season is upon us. And when it rains, whatever germs and organisms that have killed these birds, as well as other organisms that result from the decomposition of the carcasses, not to mention the carcasses themselves, are likely to wash into the lake.

“The resulting contamination of the lake water is more than likely to cause an even bigger crisis.”

A clean-up operation at the lake, organised by local angler Quinton Scott and supported by the Florida South Residents Association, The KCCC Foundation, Claw and Wild Serve, revealed upwards of 70 carcasses, which were removed from the island and sent for incineration.

The Record has directed enquiries to Johannesburg City Parks and Zoos and will add their answers when received.