REPORTS OF MYSTERIOUS mass animal, bird and fish deaths have stumped scientists around the world in the past few two months.
There is no mystery, however, about what happened to the latest batch of bird deaths in the States – the US Department of Agriculture (USDA) killed them. More than 200 starlings were found dead in a park in Yankton, South Dakota last Monday. At first, it was assumed they had frozen to death in the subzero temperatures of the Dakotan winter.
However, the USDA has confirmed to a local news station, KTIV, that it intentionally poisoned the birds because the starlings had been defecating in animal feed at a local farmer’s property. KTIV report that the birds were fed poisoned bait and flew back to Yankton to die. A spokesperson for the USDA Wildlife Services said:
We’re doing it to address, in this case, agricultural damage as well as the potential for human health and safety issues.
Around 2,000 starlings are estimated to have eaten the poison but as the tainted bait has now been removed, the USDA believes that the 200-plus starlings that died will be the extent of the casualties.
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