The birds may have died due to heavy metal chemical contamination resulting from enemy bombardment.
In the national natural park "Tuzly Estuaries," a massive death of birds was recorded, among which are Red Book birds. This was announced by the doctor of biological sciences, Ivan Rusev.
According to him, within two days, the park office received information from local residents and the nature conservation officer of the reserve that there were many dead birds on the Burnas and Solyony estuaries in the park.
“Yesterday, the commission of the national park, together with veterinarians, surveyed the territory … and it was established that there are indeed dead birds in the shallow waters of the Solenoy and Burnas estuaries. But a detailed examination of the territory and water areas showed that there are dead birds only in the zone of these two estuaries, not far from no dead birds were found in other territories or water areas of our estuaries," Rusev wrote.
He noted that during the check, about 300 dead birds were counted. Among them are 5 thin-beaked Martyns (included in the Red Book of Ukraine).
Veterinarians took samples for research. Among the causes of death, there are several versions. The first is an infectious disease, the second is a chemical poison in farm fields where birds sometimes feed, and the third is a collision with a powerful power line, but no obvious external signs of electric shock were found.
The fourth version is chemical pollution of the water area of ​​the Burnas estuary with heavy metals and other chemical compounds, including rocket fuel. This could have been due to the enemy bombardment of the Burnas zone. The scientist claims that especially this zone of the national park was bombed by the Russian military at the beginning of the full-scale invasion of the Russian Federation.
Rusev added that he would inform the public about the research results.
