The Arkansas blackbirds and 8 other mysterious mass animal deaths

After 5,000 redwing blackbirds fell dead in Arkansas, other fish, birds, and even crabs have been dying en masse across the globe — sparking apocalyptic fears

A rash of mysterious bird and sea-creature deaths have given people looking for ill omens plenty of fodder in the first days of 2011.
(Image credit: Corbis)

The mysterious "rain" of 5,000 dead blackbirds that filled fields near Beebe, Arkansas, on New Year's Day — and inspired doomsday speculation — was likely triggered by ear-splitting fireworks, say officials. The explosions apparently startled the birds, which have poor night vision, causing them to fly fatally into buildings and trees. Still, say gloomy prognosticators, eight other incidences of strange animal deaths have occurred over the last few days:

1. 100,000 fish in Arkansas

Subscribe to The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE
https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/flexiimages/jacafc5zvs1692883516.jpg

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

Sign up