Highland Show takes live birds and poultry off the bill

UK - Poultry and live birds have been banned from this year's Royal Highland Show because of the threat of bird flu.

The summer event at Ingliston traditionally includes animal and bird displays among its 2000 exhibitions.

But organisers have decided to cancel the bird section as a precaution because they don't want to risk bringing together birds from across the country.

A 2500 square kilometre "wild bird risk area" was put in force on April 6 following the discovery of a swan with the deadly strain of avian flu in the village of Cellardyke, Fife.

Organisers at Ingliston Showground said they had decided to issue the ban now because invitations were due to go out to exhibitors soon.

Kate Stephen, livestock and competitions manager at the Royal Highland Show, said the event did not want to incur any risk to local farmers.

She said: "We just felt we had to make a decision because we would normally be inviting entries from people round about now."

Source: The Scotsman