Game Agency Reports 100 Dead Pigeons In SD Town

RAPID CITY, SD - The South Dakota Game, Fish & Parks Department is investigating about 100 suspicious deaths in downtown Rapid City - and the victims are all pigeons.

John Kanta, regional wildlife manager for the department, says that dozens of bird corpses have been
recovered since Thursday afternoon.

The deaths are mysterious enough that samples have been flown to a lab in Madison, Wis., in hopes of determining the cause. Kanta says the birds could have been sickened by mold or bacteria, but officials suspect they were poisoned.

Kanta says officials are "worried about the incidental loss we might see with other animals" - specifically peregrine falcons.

He acknowledges that some people have motive to off the birds - especially business owners whose customers have to walk through pigeon droppings.