The California Department of Fish and Wildlife is examining the carcasses of several Canada geese and one duck found dead around Truxtun Lakes to determine what killed them and about a dozen other geese earlier this month.
But it will take several weeks to get the necropsy results back from the state’s Wildlife Health Laboratory, according to Abby Gwinn, a biologist with CDFW who bagged several dead birds from Truxtun Lakes on Nov. 7.
She wrote in an email that another live, but sick, goose was found last week and taken to a wildlife rehabilitation facility. It also died.
“This one will be particularly valuable as we know it was sick prior to passing and we have a report of the symptoms,” Gwinn wrote in an email. “It is not uncommon to have an increase in bird diseases observed during migration when birds flock together, especially when habitat is limited like it is locally this year with the dry Kern River through town.”
The Kern River dried up suddenly at the end of August when the City of Bakersfield’s water rights petered out this year.
So far, with the exception of the one dead Muscovy duck, the die-off appears to only be affecting Canada geese, Gwinn wrote.
Gwinn said the public may report sightings of dead animals directly to CDFW’s Wildlife Health Lab through its website: https://wildlife.ca.gov/Conservation/Laboratories/Wildlife-Health/Monitoring/Mortality-Report
The City of Bakersfield, which owns and operates Truxtun Lakes confirmed that water levels are dropping as all of the city’s Kern River water has been diverted to drinking water facilities. Only one lake of the four, the largest, still has water. The city is not testing the water or vegetation to determine what killed the animals. Spokesman Joe Conroy said the city has not sprayed any herbicides around the lakes.
He said if the public finds a dead animal, they should report it through the Bakersfield Mobile app or the Service Request Portal on the city’s website so that it can be disposed of safely.
Managers at the Pixley National Wildlife Refuge also began observing a large bird die-off starting October 3, according to an email from Audrey Mahinan, a biologist with the Kern National Wildlife Refuge Complex.
“Botulism has been confirmed to be the primary cause, and the birds tested negative for avian influenza,” Mahinan wrote in an email. A botulism outbreak killed thousands of wild birds in September 2023 after historic flooding re-filled parts of the old Tulare Lake bed.
Avian flu has been a concern in Tulare County where dairy herds and farm workers have been infected by the virus.
