There will be no chicken this winter for meat-eaters at the Guangzhou Zoo.

Zoo officials in the southern Chinese city said that animals such as tigers and bears will be fed only beef, mutton and rabbit as a precaution against an outbreak of avian influenza, according to a Xinhua News Agency report.

In late October, 147 endangered Bengal tigers at Thailand's Sri Racha Tiger Zoo died of avian influenza or were culled by government authorities. The outbreak appears to have stemmed from feeding the animals raw chicken.

The Guangzhou Zoo's Deputy Manager Chen Honghan said that the new diet, which is expected to last for three months, should help keep the animals from being infected with the deadly H5N1 bird flu virus.

The risk of outbreak is higher in the winter with many birds from the north migrating to the warmer southern regions. Last week, a dead gray heron found in Hong Kong's Lok Ma Chau area tested positive for H5N1.

Bird flu ravaged poultry farms across Asia this year, killing or forcing the culls of tens of millions of chickens and other birds. The disease has also killed 32 people in Thailand and Vietnam.

In recent weeks, China has ordered local officials to be on high alert against the disease after Thailand reported possible human-to-human transmission.

Chinese officials said in March that they had defeated the disease after killing 9 million chickens and other poultry. However, a new outbreak was reported in July, when tests showed chickens had died of the disease on a farm in the eastern province of Anhui.

The Guangzhou Zoo has vaccinated 80 percent of its 3,000 birds and has disinfected its bird-raising areas and visitor and entertainment areas, Xinhua reported.

Guangzhou is the capital of Guangdong Province, where severe acute respiratory syndrome first emerged in 2002. New flu strains are often traced to southern China, where experts say they start in ducks, pigs and other farm animals.

(China Daily November 8, 2004)