Sultanpur park to reopen today

GURGAON: The Sultanpur National Pak will reopen on Monday, 16 days after a bird flu scare shut it down.
Though the report on H5NI tests on 47 birds found dead at the sanctuary on January 10 is still awaited, the authorities have decided to reopen the park to visitors because no more birds have died since.
"If the earlier deaths had happened because of bird flu, more birds would have died in the park.But as this did not happen, we decided to reopen the park on January 26," said KS Khetkar, district wildlife officer.
Samples of the dead birds, mostly Eurasian coots, were sent to THE National Institute of High Security Animal Diseases in Bhopal for avian flu tests. "Normally, it takes two weeks for the report to come but considering the sensitivity of the case, the report will directly go to the Centre and will reach us only after a few days via Chandigarh," said a senior official in the animal husbandry department.
A team from the Bombay Natural History Society - an NGO engaged in conservation and biodiversity research -visited the park after January 10 and found no avian flu symptoms in the dead birds.