Lethal pesticides responsible for killing hundreds of birds, including parrots and cranes

Friday, July 01, 2016 by: J. D. Heyes
Tags: birds, pesticides, deaths

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(NaturalNews) Mass deaths of wildlife due to the introduction of poisons into the environment, either as pesticides, herbicides or for some other allegedly "beneficial" use, have taken place all over the world, and it just happened again, this time in Asia.

As reported by the Times of India, hundreds of birds were killed after ingesting poisonous grains from a water-filled paddy in fields near the village of Junona. Indian forestry and conservation officials were alerted to the incident in recent days, and have since moved into the area to remove some of the dead birds.

Almost immediately, local wildlife activists pointed to a poisonous chemical that had been sprayed on the paddy as the cause of the birds' deaths.

"The birds are dying since last four days in fields and shrubs all around the village. I have seen hundreds of dead birds scattered in the bushes, on trees, in farms fences etc. After the matter was reported to the forest officials, the forest guard of Chandrapur range carried out an inquest on Wednesday on the dead bodies of 21 birds we had gathered at one place," said Kishor Petkule, a volunteer with the local wing of the organization Eco-Pro.

Deadly insecticide to blame?

Petkule noted further that the number of bird deaths is excessive, and that initially forestry officials sent to the region did not bother looking for the dead birds. One official was satisfied with simply documenting the deaths – conducting "panchanama" – of 21 birds that had been gathered up by volunteers and given to him. Petkule also said that several of the dead birds had been snatched up by local villagers and eaten.

As monsoon season arrives, The Times reported, Indian farmers have begun preparing their fields for planting. Those who have cultivated paddies have already put seed crops in their fields, which have in turn been sprayed with a toxic pesticide called Thimet, an insecticide manufactured by the AMVAC Chemical Corp.

"A proven organophosphate insecticide, THIMET effectively controls sucking pests, mites and other major insects in a wide variety of crops. THIMET is formulated in a dry, low-dust granule that is rapidly absorbed within the plant to provide dependable, systemic protection from the roots up," says a product description on the company's website.

The Times noted that birds who have eaten at the treated paddies have died in large numbers.

"We have found paddy grains in the throats of dead birds. These grains have clear stench of poisonous Thimet," Petkule said, adding that the dead birds included sparrows, parrots, cranes and others.

As Natural News has reported, what just happened in India is far from the only time there have been mass deaths of animals, many of them due to chemicals, radiation and other elements introduced into the environment by chemical and energy companies.

More mass deaths of animals and sea creatures

-- In January 2015 we reported on the mass death of more than 1,200 seabirds along the Pacific Coast, which baffled investigators, though some suspected toxins:

The birds, called Cassin's auklets, are mostly gray in color and have blue feet. Media reports say they have been steadily washing ashore all along the Pacific Coast, from Northern California to the coast of the state of Washington, and that, naturally, is concerning wildlife and other experts because thus far they have yet to determine an exact cause for the massive deaths.

"To be this lengthy and geographically widespread, I think is kind of unprecedented," Phillip Johnson, the executive director of the Oregon Shores Conservation Coalition, told the Pierce Pioneer, in its online edition. "It's an interesting and somewhat mysterious event."

-- In September 2014, we reported that millions of sea stars were dying – again, along the Pacific Coast, stretching from Alaska to Mexico. The creatures, which belong to the class of animals known as Asteroidea, have been on Earth for some 450 million years, and more than 20 species of them have been affected. Experts say dead sea stars are exhibiting signs of "wasting syndrome," a condition which causes their limbs to disintegrate.

-- The BBC reported in December of that year that 500 dead sea lions had been discovered along the northern coastline of Peru, for no inherently obvious reason. As we reported:

The latest of several mass die-offs in recent years, the rotting corpses were found on Anconcillo Beach, located in Peru's Ancash region. Both young and old sea lions were found at the site, which the local governor blamed on fishermen who may have poisoned them while they searched for food at the shoreline. Others like the environmental group Orca, however, say oil exploration is probably the cause.

Sources:

TimesOfIndia.com

Amvac-Chemical.com

PiercePioneer.com

BBC.com

NaturalNews.com

NaturalNews.com