Abstract

In July 1992, in the Austrian part of Hanság, a seventy day old young bustard was found dead in a grassland. On the left intertarsal joint a walnut sized open pock was located. Other pocks reaching pea-size were found on both legs. The diagnosis “pox” was established by light- and electron-microscopic examination of the lesions. A further chick of another hen, fledged in the same year, observed from a distance showed abnormal thickening of the intertarsal joint area. The consequences of “pox” for such a small group of Great Bustards (total for 1988–1993 15–20 birds) should be watched carefully.