Israel has canceled the final month of its five month-long hunting season in a bid to contain a severe bird flu outbreak that’s killed as many as 8,000 wild cranes and sparked concerns about infection among threatened bird species.

Environmental Protection Minister Tamar Zandberg tweeted in December that this outbreak of the H5N1 bird flu is the “worst blow to wildlife” in Israel’s history and that the full extent of its damage is “still unclear.” 

The January hunting ban will help limit human-wildlife interactions. The ministry says it’s concerned that hunters unwittingly could spread the disease by carrying the virus on their shoes, tires, or via the dogs they use to collect the ducks and pigeons they shoot. Also, other