
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: MONDAY, February 18, 1991                   TAG: 9102180141
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL                    PAGE: A6   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: 
DATELINE: MANAMA, BAHRAIN                                LENGTH: Short

OIL SPILL LIKELY TO KILL 90% OF FOULED BIRDS

Despite medical treatment, only one in 10 of the oily birds rescued from a massive oil spill in the Persian Gulf will survive, a Canadian government environmentalist said Sunday.

The slick continued to cling to a stretch of water off Saudi Arabia's central coast, moving little as winds shift.

Jose Carreiro, chief of wildlife conservation for the Ontario region of Environment Canada, said most of the birds rescued from such spills are in very poor condition.

Earlier in the day, he gave $60,000 worth of bird-cleaning and treatment equipment to the Bahraini government, which is bracing for the arrival of the slick on its shores. The oil is still about 90 miles north of Bahrain.

- Associated Press

by CNB