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Cigoc (pte025/02.04.2003/13:30) - Ornithologists say bird migration routes have been massively disrupted because of the war in Iraq.
People in the village of Cigoc, Croatia, say only five pairs of European storks have turned up in the village so far. By the end of March there are usually hundreds of pairs in the village and more than 1,500 pairs across Croatia. People in the village believe that the Iraq war is behind the birds' non-arrival.
Dragutin Miletic told local media: "The storks would usually be here by now. The war in Iraq has obviously held them up. The birds probably changed their route from Africa because of military manoeuvres."
As many as one million migrating birds could be affected by the war, some ornithologists have warned. Bog areas in Iraq are important resting places for the birds as they fly from southern Africa to Europe.
Czech ornithologist Pavel Ctyroky said: "The Iraq war affects birds' usual migration routes as smoke from burning oil causes disorientation."
He added that during the first gulf war in the early 1990s many storks had to find new routes to get to Europe and some did not arrive at all.
The international ornithology organization BirdLife http://www.birdlife.net , which documented the devastating effects of the first Gulf war on birds, has outlined several ways in which the war may effect migratory or endemic birds in Iraq. These include the physical destruction of habitats from weapons use or mass movements of refugees, the radiological, bio-toxic or chemical contamination of habitats, the exacerbated desertification of the area by military vehicles and weapons use, and the extinction of endemic species or subspecies.
The Environmental News Network (ENN) http://www.enn.com quotes Phil Hockey, a migration specialist with the Percy FitzPatrick Institute of African Ornithology in Cape Town, as saying: "At this time of year, March-April, you have the greatest number of birds in Iraq. From a biodiversity point of view this is the worst possible time of the year to have a war there". (newsfox-special Iraq)
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