BY: YERETH ROSEN – MAY 22, 2022 9:00 AM

Avian influenza’s arrival in Alaska signals danger for other parts of the world

A bald eagle perched in a tree in Sitka National Historical Park is lethargic and drooping. Sitka resident Larry Pouliot called the Alaska Raptor Center about the bird, which died a couple of hours later of highly pathogenic avian influenza. (Photo by Larry Pouliot/Courtesy of Alaska Beacon)

When Larry Pouliot went on a morning walk in Sitka National Historical Park on May 9, he spotted a lethargic, unresponsive bald eagle perched in a tree, its eyes bloodshot and its neck drooping.

“I realized he was not doing great,” said Pouliot, who got video footage and photos of the ailing bird.

He called the Alaska Raptor Center, a local bird rescue and rehabilitation facility. Within a couple of hours, Pouliot said, center responders who had been summoned to the…