Samples from about 20 dead ducks and geese found at Denver’s City Park have been sent to a state wildlife laboratory in Fort Collins for testing.
The dead animals were discovered floating Saturday afternoon in Ferril Lake and Duck Lake.
Colorado Division of Wildlife officials are asking people not to feed waterfowl at the park pending results of the tests.
Officials said they don’t yet know if the deaths were caused by human feeding or disease.
“We’ll try to get to the bottom of this and find out,” said Division of Wildlife spokesman Tyler Baskfield.
“From year to year we have die-offs of waterfowl,” he said. “It’s not that rare for this to happen.”
Baskfield advised people to stay clear of dead animals at the park.
In 2000, at least 16 ducks died from botulism at Duck Lake.
At that time, veterinary officials said botulism type C has been a common problem at the lake.
The toxin grows in the lake and is transferred to wildlife through maggots that feed off animal carcasses. The maggots, in turn, are eaten by waterfowl.
The same strain of botulism killed hundreds of ducks in 2001 at Glenmere Lake and Milton Reservoir in Weld County.
Staff writer Steve Raabe can be reached at 303-954-1948 or at sraabe@denverpost.com.
