British Tradition Adapts to Bird Flu

The ravens at the Tower of London have been moved indoors to custom-built aviaries as a precaution against bird flu, the tower’s raven master said -- even though the disease has not spread to Britain.

According to legend, if the ravens leave the 11th-century fortress on the River Thames, its White Tower will crumble and the Kingdom of England will fall. King Charles II decreed in the 17th century that there must always be six ravens at the Tower.

The jet-black birds are a familiar feature at the landmark, which has served as arsenal, palace, prison, zoo and, more recently, tourist attraction.

Normally, the ravens in the current flock -- Branwen, Hugine, Munin, Gwyllum, Thor and Baldrick -- wander freely in the courtyard, each with a wing clipped so it can’t fly away.

At least one did get away, however. A raven called Grog, the Tower’s notes say, “was last seen outside an East End pub called the Rose and Punchbowl in 1981.”

“Although we don’t like having to bring the Tower ravens inside, we believe it is the safest thing to do for their own protection, given the speed that the virus is moving across Europe,” Derrick Coyle, the yeoman warder who is also the raven master, said Monday.

Several European nations have reported the disease’s lethal H5N1 strain in wild birds. It was confirmed Tuesday in Hungary and Croatia, and European Union officials considered measures to vaccinate millions of birds in France and the Netherlands.

At least 15 nations have reported outbreaks in birds this month, an indication that the virus, which has killed more than 90 people, is spreading faster.

Migratory birds are thought to be at least one way the disease is being carried.

More than 30 countries have reported cases since 2003, seven of which have recorded human infections.

Hungary said Tuesday that tests showed the virus in three dead swans found last week, and Croatia confirmed H5N1 in a dead swan on an island in the Adriatic.