COLONIAL HEIGHTS, Va. — Dozens of dead vultures have some Colonial Heights parkgoers concerned.
Carcasses of the federally protected bird of prey were discovered by a resident in Roslyn Landing Park in Colonial Heights.
“I started noticing just dead buzzards or vultures, black vultures everywhere,” said Angela Kennard. “There are a lot of cat houses in the woods, and I guess for feral cats and the dead vultures were like in the feral cat houses, just dead everywhere,” Kennard added.
Angela Kennard has been taking pictures of the deceased vultures on her daily walks in the park. She sent them to CBS 6 and the Department of Wildlife Resources (DWR.)
“There's a lot of bacteria that comes with, you know, carcasses, and the smell that everything you breathe in the carcasses could be washing into the river, and that's a natural watershed. It's pretty disturbing,” said Kennard. “I know buzzards carry a lot of salmonella and stuff like that, so I'm worried about the dogs and cats catching something. If it's the avian flu, dogs and cats can catch that too, and people can,” she added.
“Why is everything dying around here?” said parkgoer Harry Gravelle.
“I don't even let my kids play in the water out here. I don't trust them not to get sick,” Gravelle added.
“A DWR biologist did visit the area to get a sample for testing last Thursday, but unfortunately all of the carcasses were too decomposed,” said DWR spokesperson Shelby Crouch.
DWR and the park confirmed for CBS 6 that they were working together. DWR said it was providing the park with guidance on proper disposal strategies and precautions. They say the park will also advise them of any new carcasses that would be appropriate for future testing. DWR said it is the park’s responsibility to dispose of the carcasses.
“We always need to clean up the earth, that way we can live longer,” said Gravelle’s daughter Lillith.
This is a developing story. Email the CBS 6 Newsroom if you have additional information to share.
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