Officials Investigate Illness Killing Ducks at Reseda Park Pond

City parks and animal-control officials are investigating an outbreak of disease among ducks at a pond in Reseda Park.

George Stigile, West San Fernando Valley supervisor for the Los Angeles Recreation and Parks Department, said that in the last two weeks as many as a dozen ducks have died at the pond. Another 11 are so ill that they will have to be destroyed, he said.

Stigile said the ducks may be victims of botulism, which they can contract from feeding on decayed fish. “In the past we have had cases of botulism,” he said, “and those ducks who were sick and dead showed the same symptoms as these.”

The ducks found in the park have been uncoordinated or comatose, he said.

3 Departments Involved

The Recreation and Parks Department began its investigation Monday and will be working with officials of the city Animal Regulation Department and the state Fish and Game Department, Stigile said.

Linda Gordon, a supervisor at the West Valley Animal Shelter, said the ill ducks have been treated, without success. She said a county veterinarian is testing the remains of two ducks to determine the cause of death.

According to Dennis Wollen, a maintenance worker at Reseda Park, 300 to 600 ducks and geese live at the 36-acre park.

But Wollen said that, although he has noticed some illnesses and deaths among the birds, he thinks the investigation is an overreaction. “If we really had a disease here there would be many more of them dying,” he said.

Wollen said he is more worried about the threat to waterfowl posed by careless fishermen and other park patrons. “I’ve seen fisherman casting into clutches of ducks and geese trying to catch them,” he said. “I would really prefer to see fishing outlawed in the park.”

A state Fish and Game biologist said the diseased animals pose no danger to people.