Health authorities on Tuesday were trying to determine what killed 17 crows and one pigeon whose bodies were found on the street in Yokohama earlier in the day.
According to police, the birds were found dead at around 8 a.m. in a 200-meter radius in an entertainment district about 400 meters from JR Kannai Station. NTV quoted police as saying there were no external injuries on the birds.
Health authorities said there was no sign of bird flu and believe the birds must have ingested poison of some kind.
© Japan Today
37 Comments
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nath
First
FizzBit
Possibly the spikes in Cs 134/137 over Tokyo the last two months.
Sensato
My wife heard about this via the Japanese media about 30 minutes ago. She had a conniption fit.
Now get ready for nearly everyone in Yokohama/Japan to break out the surgical masks.
kimuzukashiiiii
That is scary... lets hope its just your average "I hate all living things and Im going to poison them" ojisan at work instead.
Virtuoso
Here's hoping it's just a crazy with an air rifle. If so, he's welcome to come to my neighborhood, where the pterodactyls have been particularly raucous of late.
Graham DeShazo
Probably poison given the tight radius.
TumbleDry
Must have been a hell of fight. One pigeon against 17 crows, at least...
Harry_Gatto
Perhaps they had their beaks in a fugu restaurant's waste bin?
Onniyama
Stress killed them.
SamuraiBlue
Harry_Gatto
Just to let other people know, the poisonous parts of fugu at a fugu restaurant is kept in a bin under lock and key and can only be disposed by registered experts.
Having said that I agree with Graham that someone had poisoned them although I wonder how it killed the pigeon.
sp4cerat
I would guess a hobby hunter was on the run
dmhondz
they are scavengers, most likely something they ate or maybe some ojiisan poisoned them because he got tired of cleaning up their mess after they scatter all those garbage in search of food. Seriously hope not kind of virus.
Indranuj Dey
Seems to be a case of poisoning (maybe from bird food), the radius is too small for biological infection, and there are no external injuries. Only autopsy report would reveal the cause. Hope it's not some Sarin test by a crazy cult!!!
AkashiAussie
A friend and I once saw a Japanese policeman spend 20 minutes investigating the death of a pigeon. He was writing things down in his note book, meaduring the distance if the pigeon from the footpath and writing on the road with chalk. For a country with very inhumane pet shops and a pretty disgusting record of managing fisheries, it's amazing how seriously they take the death of birds...
techall
Well pigeon, that's what you get for hanging with the wrong crowd.
Harry_Gatto
Yes, that's what should happen but it won't be the first time that animals have been poisoned this way.
nath
It can not be a bird flu based on the tight radius. If it was bird flu the birds would not all die at the same time and definitely not in the same area unless they were in a cage which they were not. Poison is the only possibility. It is on the news now and they are saying 20 died.
Jack Stern
Possibility of someone using the bird flu scare to spread some panic but analysis will determine the cause of their deaths.
philsandoz
Caw! Coo!
nath
A sign of the apocalypse
interuni321
Obviously worth checking out properly, but the most likely explanation is someone just got fed up with the crows, crows in Japan are an absolute nuisance and dangerous too, I have been full on attacked by one just for walking down the street minding my own business.
Chin4Sailor
Kannai is right in the heart of the Chinese population in Yokohama... Not a good Sign...
techall
@Chin4Sailor:
Are you saying the birds got the flu from the chinese?
Akemi Inoue
Actually, I've been told Japanese police really have nothing better to do, so they investigate things down to the very small details. A professor I had in Japan told me and a few people about how his wife crashed her car because of a sneezing fit and when the police came they seriously had her go back through and point out all the spots where she sneezed and they marked it as part of the investigation. So ya, 100% true story, they just don't have anything better to do.
Kashiwa
Health officials should test the dead birds for possible West Nile Virus infections. Dead birds is an early warning sign which indicates WNV may be present in an area. Last year, here in San Antonio, Texas, we had a WNV outbreak which resulted in several people becoming ill andor dying because of the virus.
GaroJ
A murder of crows?
Wakarimasen
J bird flu?
DaDude
If it was just in one small area, they were probably poisoned or given stomach laxatives. People do these kinds of things.
Redcliff
17 cows and one pigeon dead. The article followed up by saying that according to police the BIRDS (in plural) were found dead at around 8 AM.
Firstly really how many bird or birds were dead. My understanding was that Bird flu was not able to transfer from bird to cow, so health authority is correct and have this under control.
MetroGnome
Is it possible that this is a natural phenomena relating to fluctuations in the earths magnetic field lines that made these birds fall out of the sky? Many animal species possess a built-in compass that locates magnetic north, often demonstrated in the migratory patterns of birds. My question is: Can highly localized disturbances in these fields confuse birds in flight? Some witness accounts in North America suggested something along those lines (at least in my reckoning) like one last year in Arkansas for instance. Some witnesses reported seeing a flock of birds fly straight into the ground at full flight velocity. As if they were all following an invisable median right into terra firma. Very odd indeed!
Peter Shaw
99% chance it will be someone who has laced some bird food with poison.
Open Minded
Redcliff: 17 crows, not cows! This would have been a bit messier!
OldHawk
Kid with a slingshot?