1,000 dead ducks floating rivers in China

More than 1,000 ducks, dropped in sacks, appeared on a river in Sichuan Province, China.

People found sacks of duck carcasses on the Nanhe River in Pengshan County, Sichuan Province, and reported to local environmental protection agencies, China Daily reported.

Liang Weidong, an official from Pengshan County, told national radio that when sanitation workers arrived at the scene, they picked up more than 60 sacks and the total number of ducks was more than 1,000. Authorities could not determine the cause of the duck's death because many bodies were decomposed. They asked the sanitation staff to disinfect the ducks and buried them.

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Officials insist that people and cattle are not affected by the bodies of ducks because neither humans nor pets drink river water.

Mr. Liang said that the preliminary investigation showed that the ducks drifted from the upstream and farmers in Pengshan County were not the culprits.

The event took place in the context of just over 16,000 pigs recovered from the Huangpu River in Shanghai City in the past few days. Experts have called on the government to strengthen efforts to prevent indiscriminate disposal of animal carcasses.

"The disposal of animal carcasses on the river shows that people do not have the knowledge and awareness of handling animal carcasses," said Ouyang Yan, a researcher on animal disease prevention at the Polytechnic University Hiep, comment.