The Milwaukee County Zoo announced on Thursday that it has closed its Herb & Nada Mahler Family Aviary for an as-yet-unknown length of time to protect its birds from HPAI, also known as bird flu.
“Out of an abundance of caution, the Herb & Nada Mahler Family Aviary is now closed for the foreseeable future,” read a post on social media. “The closure is meant to protect our avian population from HPAI, commonly known as Avian Influenza, after recent bird deaths on the Chicago shores of Lake Michigan.”
Recently, Chicago Bird Collision Monitors found around 100 sick and dead and sick birds along Lake Michigan and CBCM Director Annette Prince told media that the birds were, “Showing all symptoms of avian influenza: the shaking head, the tremors, circling behavior, being unstable, unable to stand up or fly."
The Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources has also received reports of sick and dead birds in Milwaukee, Racine and Kenosha Counties, according to news reports.
In 2022, the DNR said that, “highly pathogenic avian influenza virus (also known as HPAI or EA H5 Avian Influenza) had been detected in wild waterfowl and raptors.”
Last week, a Southern Wisconsin Bird Alliance blog post added that, “HPAI has remained active in Wisconsin since. In December 2024, the virus was detected in geese and swans in Dane, Brown and Wood counties, in addition to commercial poultry operations in Barron and Kenosha counties.”
“HPAI is a deadly viral disease that infects the respiratory and gastrointestinal tracts of birds,” the blog post explained. “It has significantly affected wild birds and domestic poultry (chickens, turkeys, ducks), and farms may suffer rapid spread and high mortality rates. HPAI is also zoonotic virus, meaning that it can cross species boundaries and be transmitted to people and other animals.
“The virus most commonly affects domestic and wild birds.”
The closing of the zoo aviary is a preventive measure.
"When you have a larger die-off of birds in one area, then avian influenza, if that's what it is, gets concentrated in that area," Dr. Christy Rettenmund, senior staff veterinarian at the zoo, told WISN-TV. "Then, any birds that go through there are very likely to contract it and then move it to other areas."
It’s unknown how long the zoo aviary will remain closed.
“The zoo will continue to provide updates as more information becomes available,” the social media post noted.
Born in Brooklyn, N.Y., where he lived until he was 17, Bobby received his BA-Mass Communications from UWM in 1989 and has lived in Walker's Point, Bay View, Enderis Park, South Milwaukee and on the East Side.
He has published three non-fiction books in Italy – including one about an event in Milwaukee history, which was published in the U.S. in autumn 2010. Four more books, all about Milwaukee, have been published by The History Press.
With his most recent band, The Yell Leaders, Bobby released four LPs and had a songs featured in episodes of TV's "Party of Five" and "Dawson's Creek," and films in Japan, South America and the U.S. The Yell Leaders were named the best unsigned band in their region by VH-1 as part of its Rock Across America 1998 Tour. Most recently, the band contributed tracks to a UK vinyl/CD tribute to the Redskins and collaborated on a track with Italian novelist Enrico Remmert.
He's produced three installments of the "OMCD" series of local music compilations for OnMilwaukee.com and in 2007 produced a CD of Italian music and poetry.
In 2005, he was awarded the City of Asti's (Italy) Journalism Prize for his work focusing on that area. He has also won awards from the Milwaukee Press Club.
He has be heard on 88Nine Radio Milwaukee talking about his "Urban Spelunking" series of stories, in that station's most popular podcast.
