The discovery of deadly toxins in carcasses of various birds, ranging from the common egret to the endangered black-faced spoonbill, demonstrates that the coastal region near the estuary of the Tsengwen River (曾文溪) in southern Taiwan poses an environmental danger, researchers for the Tainan County government said yesterday.
Between Dec. 9 and Jan. 5, 88 black-faced spoonbills in Chiku Lagoon -- on the north side of the Tsengwen River -- were infected by C. botulinum toxin. Seventy-one of those birds died.
Then, on Feb. 4, two recently deceased spoonbills were discovered by bird conservationists from the Bird Society of Taiwan. One bird carcass was found in the Chiku wetlands, the other in the Sitsao (
What shocked bird conservationists was that symptoms of the two spoonbills were different from those infected by the C. botulinum toxin.
"The real cause of the death of the two remains unconfirmed. But their deaths were not related to the deaths ending in early January," said veterinarian William Chyi (
Scientifically speaking, the last die-off technically ended on Jan. 5 because no new deaths were reported in the two weeks following that date.
This time, it's not just spoonbills that are dying. In the area around the Sitsao wetlands -- located on the south side of Tsengwen River -- bird conservationists also found bodies of various other birds, including egrets and snipes, Chyi said.
When examining the carcass of a great egret picked up in Sitsao, Chyi discovered C. botulinum toxins and D. botulinum toxins.
Chyi said that researchers and local activists were still looking for sources of toxins to prevent the spread of any infections.
Chyi said that researchers had focused on a spot near a fish farm, where dead fish, dead egrets, and decomposing mice bodies eaten by maggots were discovered.
On shoals near the fish farm, footprints of the black-faced spoonbills were discovered -- suggesting that spoonbills had fed there.
"We believe that all kinds of birds near the estuary now are in danger. Undiscovered bodies of birds and other animals could exacerbate the spread of various infections because they function like toxin factories," Chyi said.
Chyi added that searching for bodies could be the only workable strategy the local government could adopt to prevent any more bird infections in coastal areas.
Yang Jiao-yen (楊嬌豔), assistant to DPP Legislator Eugene Jao (趙永清), said that Japanese experts who visited Chihku Lagoon last month had pointed out that the coastal area was contaminated by spores of many types of botulinum.
"Some legislators believe that the situation is far more serious than we can imagine and will soon suggest that the Cabinet have the military search for bodies and clean up the environment in coastal areas in Tainan County," Yang said.
In an effort to seek international assistance with the problem, the local government will hold the International Symposium on Black-faced Spoonbill Conservation in late March.
It is expected that Malcolm Coulter of the International Union for the Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources, and representatives from Spoonbill Action Voluntary Echo International, among others, will attend.
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