Ostrich

Ostriches wearing plastic guards over their beaks to prevent pecking and damaging their valuable skin, are seen at a farm in southern Israel in 2005. The farm, where some 10,000 birds are bred annually and slaughtered at the age of one year for their skin, feathers and meat, is the only one of its kind in Israel that exports almost all of its production to Europe, and is threatened with the loss of its international markets if the H5N1 Avian Flu virus strikes Israel.