BEIJING, Sept. 20 (Xinhua) -- The carcasses of 63 African penguins have been found on a beach near Cape Town, South Africa. The investigation revealed that the "murderer" was a bee.
According to Agence France-Presse reported on the 19th, these penguin corpses were found on the 17th. The South African Foundation for the Conservation of Coastal Birds conducted autopsies and disease and poison testing and found multiple stings on each penguin with no other trauma.
This is an African penguin photographed on November 15, 2010 at Penguin Beach in Cape Town, South Africa. (Photo by Xinhua news agency reporter Liu Liu)
Foundation veterinarian David Roberts said: "We found bee stings around the eyes of penguins. He said dead cape bees were also found at the penguin death scene.
Roberts said the penguins belong to the same community, inhabit the same national park, are protected and unlikely to die in large numbers for no reason. This national park is also home to cape bees.
African penguins are listed on the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species and are classified as endangered.
Roberts said cases of bees stinging penguins to death are "very rare." (Yuan Yuan)