Mass poultry deaths appal

The deaths of nearly 200,000 chickens at a poultry farm northwest of Auckland comprise one of the worst known incidents of mass animal death in New Zealand history, experts say.

‘‘It’s catastrophic. It’s certainly the largest number of any stock animal I’ve ever heard dying en masse,’’ animal welfare law expert Marcelo Rodriguez Ferrere said.

The deaths, and the manner in which they were exposed, were symptomatic of a lack of scrutiny in the industry, the University of Otago senior lecturer added.

Following Stuff inquiries, the Ministry for Primary Industries (MPI) on Monday announced an investigation into the death of the chickens. That was at least three days after a power cut hit the farm and a backup system failed.

Ferrere said the Animal Welfare Act imposed requirements relating to shelter and the freedom for animals to express natural behaviours.

He said the system relied on people making complaints, and it was ‘‘astonishing’’ and a major ‘‘systemic failure’’ if nobody alerted the ministry sooner.

‘‘The farmer has no obligation to turn [themselves] in. The scale of death here is just appalling.’’

Tegel Foods said on Monday it was working with all its contracted growers to ensure contingency systems were functioning.

‘‘Tegel won’t be commenting further until Tegel and MPI have concluded their investigation of this contract grower,’’ the food company said yesterday.

It is understood a worker on Friday found about 180,000 chickens dead and the animals were later disposed of at a worm farm.

World-leading animal welfare expert David Mellor yesterday said he’d never heard of so many chickens dying in this manner in a single incident.

Mellor, a retired Massey University professor, said ventilation failures could cause unsurvivable rapid rises in temperatures.

‘‘It is recognised that these installations are vulnerable to things like power failure.’’

MPI has voiced displeasure at how the deaths came to its attention. ‘‘For something this serious, we would expect the company to proactively come forward,’’ an MPI spokesman said.

This photo of shooting survivor Alabi Lateef has been named one of the year’s best photographs.