Nearly 1,000 black-headed gulls die in suspected poisoning  

秦皇島昌黎近千只紅嘴鷗死亡 不排除投毒可能

(ECNS) — About one thousand black-headed gulls have died from a suspected poisoning in Changli county, Qinghuangdao city, north China's Hebei province, according to China National Radio.

Researchers from the Northeast Forestry University in Harbin, Heilongjiang province, ruled out the possibility of avian flu with a sample test, the World Wide Fund For Nature said.

The birds may have been poisoned or eaten fish affected by pollution. An investigation is ongoing.

The dead gulls were found in the Qilihai Wetland, on the flight route for migratory birds from Siberia and the Far East.