September 29, 2025 - • Threatened arrest for using drones to check on the birds. • Fed the ostriches their own CFIA feed instead of the family’s feed, even though they were ordered not to. • Refused to let the family test the feed they were giving the ostriches.

January 31, 2026 - Unfortunately, you need to be able ... and application of the policy. Many of the farm's supporters have questioned why the CFIA refused to test the birds that survived the initial H5N1 outbreak, which killed 69 ostrich...

March 25, 2026 - No onsite testing of survivors was allowed — their own policy threatened farmers with up to $200,000 fines per animal or six months in jail for attempting to test or treat. The agency even struck the family’s expert reports from judicial review.

2 weeks ago - If approached, they often run away, but sometimes ostriches can be very aggressive when threatened, especially if cornered, and may also attack if they feel the need to defend their territories or offspring. Similar behaviour is noted in captive or domesticated common ostriches, which retain ...

April 15, 2026 - The ostriches also could not be spared by testing. I’ve previously discussed scientific reasons why at length, but it continues to come up. The farmers contend that the virus was never confirmed to be present except by PCR, which they claim is unreliable.

However, the IUCN notes that the ostrich’s population trend is decreasing, and they face a number of threats such as hunting, habitat loss, and natural predators. The Somali ostrich is listed as vulnerable. This species is threatened by hunting, including for practice, and habitat loss.

November 7, 2025 - They were threatened with penalties if they conducted independent testing, and CFIA declined to perform further confirmatory tests. • Not a Food Operation: The ostriches were not being raised for consumption and had been kept for research ...

1 week ago - Even the World Organization for Animal Health, whose guidelines the CFIA follows, is reconsidering how effective culls are in halting bird-flu outbreaks in a world where the next wild duck to land at a farm could trigger another one. Already, in South Africa, an ostrich flock that survives bird flu would only be quarantined and rigorously tested for reinfection, not slaughtered.

Although still relatively abundant, and not considered globally threatened (2), the ostrich has decreased in numbers and range in recent times.

November 8, 2025 - The farm had been operating for 30 years as a meat farm. Look up how ostriches are killed for meat and ostrich oil. Everyone knows what a "pet" is. A pet is loved, cared for and part of the family. A pet is not used for meat, and certainly would not be injected with a virus for research.

Farm-raised ostriches are also harvested for eggs, supple leather, and gourmet meat that is lower in cholesterol than beef. ​ At one time, most of Africa was home to the ostrich. Today, although not threatened, the ostrich requires strict protection and farming to conserve the remaining populations.

August 4, 2026 - Struthionidae (/ˌstruːθiˈɒnədiː/; from Latin strūthiō 'ostrich' and Ancient Greek εἶδος (eîdos) 'appearance, resemblance') is a family of flightless birds, containing the extant ostriches and their extinct relatives. The two extant species of ostrich are the common ostrich and ...

Wild populations of the common ostrich have declined but, in general, the species is not considered threatened. One subspecies, the Arabian ostrich, became extinct in the 1960’s; another, the North African ostrich, is critically endangered.

CFIA rejected their argument that the surviving ostriches were immune to H5N1, and, for safety reasons, would not allow testing of the birds for the virus.

December 3, 2025 - Ostrich: the largest and heaviest living bird. Kingdom: | Animalia Phylum: | Chordata Class: | Aves Order: | Struthioniformes Family: | Struthionidae

July 3, 2025 - Take a look at the ostrich facts below to learn more about these amazing flightless birds and the cruel ostrich farm trade that threatens their welfare. With huge bodies, long necks, flowing feathers, and tiny heads, ostriches are distinctive-looking birds found in the African savannah. But not all ostriches get to roam free.

July 8, 2026 - They are farmed for their meat, their skin (which makes good leather) and their soft and attractive feathers, which are prized in the fashion industry and for use as feather dusters! In the wild, ostriches are neither threatened nor endangered.

May 28, 2025 - We're not asking for miracles, just common sense and compassion." Protesters have also gathered at the farm to try to prevent the cull, while Universal Ostrich Farm filed an appeal on Monday in Vancouver, seeking a "stay of the execution and enforcement" of the culling order.

November 7, 2025 - "The Canadian government wants our farm killed off of two tests," she told him, "even though they are fully healthy and doing amazingly well." Moved by the birds' plight, the billionaire enlisted figures in the Trump administration to take up the cause. Later that May, Kennedy met with Canadian officials to try to stop the cull. He pitched a collaboration on a long-term study of the ostriches to see if they had developed immunity to the avian flu.

July 15, 2026 - However, genetic analysis suggests that these birds had separate evolutionary lineages, so they were placed in different orders entirely. The ostrich is now the only living member of its family and order.