Bird Flu Fears Spur Tower of London to Move Ravens Indoors

James Owen
for National Geographic News

Updated February 27, 2006

The famous ravens of the Tower of London have been moved indoors to protect them from the deadly strain of bird flu now threatening Britain.

The H5N1 strain of avian influenza, first identified in China, has reached nearby France where in the past week two dead ducks were diagnosed as carrying the virus. The British government now says that bird flu is likely to arrive in the country.

English legend says that a terrible evil will befall the kingdom if the Tower of London loses its ravens, which have lived at the landmark for more than 300 years.

"The legend goes back to the early part of Charles II's reign," said the Tower's raven master, Derrick Coyle, who looks after the birds.

King Charles II, who reigned from 1660 to 1685, decreed that at least six ravens should always be kept at the 11th-century fortress that sits on the River Thames.

The Tower, one of Europe's top tourist attractions, also houses the Crown Jewels.

Coyle, 61, says the ravens have been confined for both their own safety and that of the nation.

The Tower's current resident ravens—Baldrick, Branwen, Gwyllum, Hugine, Munin, and Thor—are usually seen strutting about the Tower's green where they are popular with sightseers.

"A lot of visitors are asking where the ravens are, but when we explain the reason why they've been put away, they completely understand," the raven master said.

The birds, whose wings are clipped to prevent them flying away, have been moved to aviaries in one of the royal palace's towers.

"They're being kept in a big airy room with lots of light and fresh air. They're doing very well in there," Coyle said.

Cages Prepared

"When avian flu was big news in the Far East last October, I identified there could be a problem here," Coyle said.

"The cages were ready by mid-November, and I said then that if avian flu got to Germany, I would put the birds inside."

The European Union's first case of the H5N1 virus in commercial poultry was confirmed Saturday at a turkey farm in the Ain region of southeastern France.

Vets revealed that nearly all the farm's 11,000 birds were affected and that hundreds had died. Surviving birds were slaughtered. The farm is near a lake where a wild duck was recently found killed by the virus.

Experts say migratory birds such as swans and geese are likely responsible for the westward spread of the bird flu virus. Some scientists fear the coming spring bird migration could bring many more infectious birds to previously uninfected countries.

The H5N1 strain has so far claimed at least 92 lives, mainly in Southeast Asia. The victims are thought to have caught the disease from birds, but if the virus acquires the ability to transfer between humans, it could spark a global pandemic, according to the World Health Organization. (Read a magazine excerpt: "Tracking the Next Killer Flu.")

Britain, France, and the Netherlands are planning limited vaccination programs for farmed birds, such as free-range and organic chickens, which are usually kept outside.

Zoo Birds

The British government has ordered two million doses of vaccine, which are earmarked for birds in zoos and rare captive species.

The Tower of London ravens could be vaccinated if still confined by midsummer.

But the government's deputy chief veterinary officer, Fred Landeg, warns that current vaccines wouldn't stop the disease from spreading.

"Though these vaccines protect against disease, they will not prevent birds from … spreading [the] virus," he said.

"Because the symptoms would be masked, the hidden presence of disease would pose a serious problem."

Landeg says early detection and slaughter of infected birds and controlling movement around infected areas offer the best hope of eradicating the virus.

While London's royal ravens are now safely held in the Tower, the city's other famous birds—the pigeons of Trafalgar Square—are still free to flap around.

Mayor of London Ken Livingstone has urged tourists and residents to stop feeding the pigeons to help reduce the risk of spreading bird flu.

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