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2,000 Dead Penguins Appear on Coast of Uruguay, Bewildering Authorities

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Wildlife authorities have ruled out avian flu as a cause, but they’re otherwise unsure what’s behind the deaths.

Rescued Magellanic penguins return to the sea.
Reuters

Around 2,000 dead penguins have washed up on the shores of Uruguay—and authorities aren’t quite sure what’s killing them all. “It is normal for some percentage to die, but not these numbers,” Carmen Leizagoyen, head of the department of fauna in Uruguay’s Environment Ministry, was quoted saying by Agence France-Presse. Leizagoyen added that avian flu had been ruled out as the cause of death. The tally of dead birds mostly includes juvenile Magellanic penguins, who migrate along the Atlantic coast of South America. According to AFP, while authorities haven’t pinned down a cause for the deaths, some advocates attribute them to overfishing.

Read it at Agence France-Presse

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