Fifteen birds, including a rare stork, have been found dead in north China's Hebei Province, a local forestry bureau official said Friday. Remains of the birds were found near a salt field in Leting County on Thursday after a bird protection volunteer discovered a body of an oriental white stork. The stork is listed under China's highest level of animal protection, Wu Wanying, head of the county's forestry bureau said. It is suspected that the birds were poisoned, but an investigation is still under way. This is the second such case after 20 oriental white storks were found dead and another 13 poisoned earlier this month in north China's Tianjin Municipality. Investigations showed that the storks were poisoned by water in the wetland, which was confirmed to be tainted with carbofuran, one of the most toxic carbamate pesticides. Police are still investigating the source of the pesticide, Xinhua reported.
