CHICAGO (AP) – Experts say a necropsy on a a beloved, endangered shorebird in Chicago named Monty the Piping Plover shows he died of a respiratory infection. The Lincoln Park Zoo says it partnered with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the University of Illinois Zoological Pathology Program to determine the bird’s cause of death. The zoo announced Tuesday the severe fungal respiratory infection that killed Monty on May 13 included a laryngitis that restricted Monty’s airway. The zoo says additional testing is being conducted to identify the fungus but it’s suspected of being environmental in origin.
