{"id":10399,"date":"2025-07-15T00:57:03","date_gmt":"2025-07-15T00:57:03","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/10399\/"},"modified":"2025-07-15T00:57:03","modified_gmt":"2025-07-15T00:57:03","slug":"neighbors-concerned-after-dozens-of-dead-vultures-found-in-colonial-heights-park","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/10399\/","title":{"rendered":"Neighbors concerned after dozens of dead vultures found in Colonial Heights park"},"content":{"rendered":"

COLONIAL HEIGHTS, Va. \u2014 Dozens of dead vultures have some Colonial Heights parkgoers concerned.<\/p>\n

Carcasses of the federally protected bird of prey were discovered by a resident in Roslyn Landing Park in Colonial Heights.<\/p>\n

\u201cI started noticing just dead buzzards or vultures, black vultures everywhere,\u201d said Angela Kennard. \u201cThere are a lot of cat houses in the woods, and I guess for feral cats and the dead vultures were like in the feral cat houses, just dead everywhere,\u201d Kennard added.<\/p>\n

Angela Kennard has been taking pictures of the deceased vultures on her daily walks in the park. She sent them to CBS 6 and the Department of Wildlife Resources (DWR.)<\/p>\n

\u201cThere’s a lot of bacteria that comes with, you know, carcasses, and the smell that everything you breathe in the carcasses could be washing into the river, and that’s a natural watershed. It’s pretty disturbing,\u201d said Kennard. \u201cI know buzzards carry a lot of salmonella and stuff like that, so I’m worried about the dogs and cats catching something. If it’s the avian flu, dogs and cats can catch that too, and people can,\u201d she added.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhy is everything dying around here?\u201d said parkgoer Harry Gravelle.<\/p>\n

\u201cI don’t even let my kids play in the water out here. I don’t trust them not to get sick,\u201d Gravelle added.<\/p>\n

\u201cA DWR biologist did visit the area to get a sample for testing last Thursday, but unfortunately all of the carcasses were too decomposed,\u201d said DWR spokesperson Shelby Crouch.<\/p>\n

DWR and the park confirmed for CBS 6 that they were working together. DWR said it was providing the park with guidance on proper disposal strategies and precautions. They say the park will also advise them of any new carcasses that would be appropriate for future testing. DWR said it is the park\u2019s responsibility to dispose of the carcasses.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe always need to clean up the earth, that way we can live longer,\u201d said Gravelle\u2019s daughter Lillith.<\/p>\n

This is a developing story. Email the CBS 6 Newsroom if you have additional information to share.<\/a><\/p>\n

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