The number of sparrows decreased by 95% in Brussels



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Everyone in Brussels noticed that the sparrows have practically disappeared from the region. Since 1992, the loss of these birds has been estimated at 95%, according to the RTBF. But how did we come to this?

The exact causes are not clearly defined. They can be multiple. The specialists particularly evoke the renovation of buildings and therefore the disappearance of the cavities in which they could nest, as well as a drastic decrease in the number of insects indispensable to their diet.

But a new cause could have given the coup de grace: avian malaria. A disease that would be linked to global warming and the appearance in our regions of a species of mosquito that attacks sparrows and their chicks.

“The discovery was made during research in Great Britain, London and other urban centers”, explains Alain Paquet, Natagora ornithologist, “And so we were able to demonstrate the link between the disappearance of sparrows and the appearance of this disease, which further accelerates their rarefaction”.

However, there is no risk of this disease being transmitted to humans.



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