Mass death of pelicans in Nakhon Nayok a mystery

By Thanathip Chaiyos 
The Nation

 

The carcasses of 28 spot-billed pelicans found in a Nakhon Nayok rice field on Monday morning have been incinerated to guard against a possible outbreak of disease.

 

The birds were so badly decomposed that officials could not determine the cause of death.

 

The pelicans’ mass death in the Central province’s Thung Yai area, which draws migrating birds in the thousands, remains a mystery.

 

The area is home to about 1,000 spot-billed pelicans that had migrated from Siberia and stayed on.

 

Tambon Tha Rua resident Sitthichai Imjit, who was sightseeing in the area, came across the dead birds and reported them to the Department of National Parks, Wildlife and Plant Conservation.

 

A team led by a veterinarian from the Protected Area Regional Office 1 in Prachin Buri inspected the birds, but could not discover what killed them.

Livestock Department officials incinerated the carcasses as a precaution.

 

Source:  http://www.nationmultimedia.com/detail/breakingnews/30337988

 

-- © Copyright The Nation 2018-02-05

18 hours ago, webfact said:

A team led by a veterinarian from the Protected Area Regional Office 1 in Prachin Buri inspected the birds, but could not discover what killed them.

..........but likely culprit - foreigners !

here seems to be an underlying culture with wildlife management to accept "mysteries" as a way of life.

 

An alternative reading could be that any evidence of foul play (excuse the pun!) has been eradicated or at least swept under the carpet.

 

It is possible thy all suddenly decided to die of a disease, but it is also possible that they were poisoned by some agricultural chemicals or something illegally discharged into the area......well will now never know as they seem to think that burng the carcasses puts an end to the matter.

 

 

To me the handling of this affair just seems to increase the impression that the authorities stills don't take wildlife and environmental issues seriously, giving rise to speculation that someone has just got away with something.

 

 

1 hour ago, RichardColeman said:

..........but likely culprit - foreigners !

Why would that be?

Bad lot of fish,more likely chemicals in the rice field.

they come all the way from Siberia to die here ! like

many other tourists.

regards Worgeordie

Smoke inhalation .