Birds are falling from the sky, bleeding from their eyes and beaks https://t.co/2QCdR19i9d via @nypost— Bo Snerdley (@BoSnerdley) July 13, 2019
New York Post
written by Hannah Frishberg
Friday July 12, 2019
It could have been a scene out of an Alfred Hitchcock fright film — but it was happening in real time.
So say bird rescuers who found a chilling scene in South Australia this week when birds were “falling from the sky” and subsequently discovered in trees and on the ground, bleeding from their beaks and eyes.
More than 60 corellas — a species native to the continent — have died since being found in the town of Adelaide Tuesday and Wednesday. Of those, the vast majority were long-billed corellas, a protected species in Australia, while a few were little corellas — an unprotected species considered by many to be a pest that deserves “gassing.”
Unlawful killing of long-billed corellas, however, is an offense punishable with fines or jail time. Although some of the birds found alive were taken to veterinarians, they couldn’t be saved, the BBC reports.
“The scene looked like a horror movie,” Sarah King, founder of a bird rescue group that sent a staffer to the incident, tells the outlet. “The birds weren’t able to fly and were lying on the ground wailing in pain. Some birds were bleeding out of their mouth. That immediately made us think of poisoning, which we’ve seen before.”
The corella deaths are now being investigated by the Australian government, with poisoning suspected, The Guardian reports.
“Disease and toxin testing is under way and will take several weeks to complete,” a Department for Environment and Water spokeswoman tells the BBC.
A petition called “Corella Carnage in SA Must be stopped,” has already racked up over 7,700 signatures, with a goal of reaching 10,000. “The SA Environment Department is planning a Corella management strategy that would see the birds gassed en masse around the state,” it reads. “We cannot let this happen to our precious wildlife.”
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