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Poison feared in stork case
December 18, 2012, Tuesday
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MORE than 200 endangered Oriental white storks have taken up residence in largely frozen wetland in north China's Tianjin Municipality.
Wildlife officials fear they may be too weak to fly or might have been sickened by poison.
The migrating birds should have flown south by the end of November but are still in the Beidagang Wetland Nature Reserve, which has received heavy ice and snow, said Wang Jianmin, a volunteer at the Tianjin Wild Animal Rescue and Training Center. Heavy snow hit the city on Friday, making it hard for birds to find food in the frozen marshes.
Volunteers spread small fish on the ice on Friday night, all of it eaten by the storks. Food was put out again on Saturday and Sunday.
"If they still don't fly south after eating, it will be a serious problem," Wang said, adding that the case may be related to a poisoning incident last month when 20 storks were found dead and another 13 sickened by poison in the wetlands that were tainted with pesticide.
On November 25, police arrested two men alleged to have used the poison to poach the endangered birds. Only 2,500 to 3,000 exist; trading is banned.
Wildlife officials fear they may be too weak to fly or might have been sickened by poison.
The migrating birds should have flown south by the end of November but are still in the Beidagang Wetland Nature Reserve, which has received heavy ice and snow, said Wang Jianmin, a volunteer at the Tianjin Wild Animal Rescue and Training Center. Heavy snow hit the city on Friday, making it hard for birds to find food in the frozen marshes.
Volunteers spread small fish on the ice on Friday night, all of it eaten by the storks. Food was put out again on Saturday and Sunday.
"If they still don't fly south after eating, it will be a serious problem," Wang said, adding that the case may be related to a poisoning incident last month when 20 storks were found dead and another 13 sickened by poison in the wetlands that were tainted with pesticide.
On November 25, police arrested two men alleged to have used the poison to poach the endangered birds. Only 2,500 to 3,000 exist; trading is banned.
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