All birds at the Curraghs Wildlife Park will either be taken off show or have restricted viewing.

The park will remain closed today (Friday) due to the first confirmed case of avian influenza being reported last week in Sulby.

However, it will open tomorrow (Saturday) and resume normal winter opening hours.

When it does, all bird species in the park will ’have restricted viewing or may be off show completely’, according to a statement online from the Wildlife Park.

It said: ’This is to protect them and reduce the risk of our birds contracting avian influenza (bird flu).

’We apologise for the inconvenience. Our animal welfare must come first.’

All other animals will be open to normal viewing.

There are a number of precautions in place to protect the park’s birds.

Visitors will be asked to ’dip their feet in the disinfectant foot bath or mat’ and ’buggy wheels will need to be wheeled over the mat’.

Bird keepers are being advised not to wear boots or clothing they wear to attend to poultry. If visiting the park, they must have clean boots and clothing free of any bird faeces ’to protect animal health’.

It said: ’Avian influenza is considered very low or nil risk to humans unless you are working with and handling infected birds. All our birds are currently healthy.’

Finally, the park has asked people not to visit if they have been attending to sick birds or have a suspected or confirmed case of avian influenza on their property. The Wildlife Park will be applying a 20% discount to day visitors each day our birds are restricted view.

If you see a dead wild bird in the park, you should not touch or go near it and contact a member of staff immediately who will deal with it.

A single dead wild bird does not necessarily mean it has died of avian influenza.

The statement added: ’Thanks so much for your patience, we needed a couple more days to prioritise our operational efforts to protect our bird species and get the park ready for opening.’

While the Department of the Environment, Food and Agriculture currently says nobody should feed garden birds, the Manx Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals takes a different view, saying that garden birds need to be fed while food elsewhere is in short supply.