MYNAH birds which mysteriously died at Naweni Vilage on Vanua Levu, Fiji’s second largest island, were killed by blunt trauma, post mortem examinations revealed.
The incident fueled local conspiracy theory and sparked rumours of links between 5th generation global wireless standards and the COVID19 pandemic.
Fiji’s Minister for Agriculture Dr Mahendra Reddy revealed the post-mortem findings after investigations were conducted into the bird deaths.
Dr Reddy said the birds sustained blunt trauma either from collision witha static object, the ground or other birds.
A video of the incident was posted on social media showing dead mynah birds that fell from the sky in Peceli Settlement, Naweni.
Dr Reddy said the post-mortem noted that in the absence of microscopic examination of tissue to study the manifestations of disease otherwise termed as histopathology, the gross finding suggested the cause of death in the birds presented was blunt trauma.
“There were no reports of other bird or mammal deaths in the area, no history of pesticide/herbicide use, no nearby power lines or reports of lightning, however, there were trees nearby,” he said.
“Out of the presented birds, bird 1 and 2 had evidence of blunt trauma to the cranium, bird 3 had evidence of blunt trauma to the cranium and right atrium rupture. Causes of death appearing to be blunt trauma.”
Animals Fiji carried out the post-mortem and forensic reports at their Savusavu Office.
