Thousands of birds dead due to avian influenza at the Great Salt Lake
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- Millions of eared grebes gather on the Great Salt Lake on Tuesday, Dec. 20, 2016. The lake is a major destination for migrating birds from around North America. The eared grebes are one of the last birds to migrate south for the winter after stopping over to eat brine shrimp on the lake.
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- An eared grebe, pictured May 18, 2008. At least 15 thousand birds have died at the Great Salt Lake due to avian influenza.
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- Great Salt Lake Collaborative
Editor’s note: This article is published through the Great Salt Lake Collaborative, a solutions journalism initiative that partners news, education and media organizations to help inform people about the plight of the Great Salt Lake — and what can be done to make a difference before it is too late. Read all of our stories at greatsaltlakenews.org.
SALT LAKE CITY — The Utah Division of Wildlife Resources have reported at least 15 thousand birds have died at the Great Salt Lake due to avian influenza.
“DWR biologists have confirmed that roughly 15,000 to 25,000 Eared Grebes have died along the Great Salt Lake, primarily due to avian influenza,” Utah Division of Wildlife Resources said in a news release. “The first dead birds were detected in November 2024, and DWR staff collected a few of the carcasses and sent them to a lab for disease testing.”
From there, spokesperson for the UDWR Faith Heaton Jolley said the test results showed the birds were positive for avian influenza.
According to the Utah Division of Wildlife Resources the last outbreak of the avian influenza in the United States happened in 2014 when it was detected in Mississippi.
This new pathogenic avian influenza was first discovered in January 2022 on the East Coast and has since spread into Utah.
How does the avian influenza affect Utah?
According to Jolley, the death of the birds should not greatly impact the Eared Grebes population in Utah. However, the news release did state it may take some time for the birds to decompose.
“The salinity of the Great Salt Lake almost ‘pickles’ the carcasses, so they don’t decompose or get scavenged like they would in a normal non-salt water environment,” the news release said. “The birds will likely continue to wash ashore in the coming months.”
According to Jolley, up to 4 million of these birds migrate to Utah and end up at the Great Salt Lake every year.
“High pathogenic avian influenza viruses are very contagious among birds and can cause rapid and high mortality in domestic birds such as chickens, turkeys and domestic ducks.” the DWR news release said.
According to the DWR news release, waterfowl, shorebirds, raptors and scavengers are commonly affected.
“Anyone who finds a group of five or more dead waterfowl or shorebirds — or any individual dead scavengers or raptors — should report it to the nearest DWR office,” the news release said. “Make sure you don’t touch the birds or pick them up.”
