The highly virulent H5N1 bird-flu virus has been detected in the carcass of an endangered eagle in the village of Sagara, Kumamoto Prefecture, the Environment Ministry said Sunday.

The ministry has tasked a laboratory at Tottori University with examining the bird, a female mountain hawk eagle, after it was found to be ailing in the village on Jan. 4 and died shortly afterward.

The bird is on the government list of endangered species and there are believed to be some 1,800 inhabiting mountainous areas from Hokkaido to Kyushu.