Pesticide Kills 160 Birds in Perth, Western Australia

160 birds were found dead or dying near a garbage dump in the southern Perth suburb of Henderson. After several contamination checks, the cause of the birds' deaths was traced to phosphorus-based insecticide called Fenthion.

According the the WA Department of Environment and Conservation (DEC), Fenthion was found in the dead birds' stomachs. The next step is to find out if the poisoning was a deliberate attack on fauna, or the result of illegal dumping.

In 2007, a similar event took place in Esperance, which is roughly 400km southeast of Perth: thousands of birds were killed by clouds of lead carbonate as it was brought into port.