As some journalists in Iran report that the number of dead migrant birds in Miankaleh swamp has reached 15000, the explanations by the officials for this phenomenon have been seriously challenged by the environmental experts.

The president of Iran’s Wildlife Department at the Environmental Protection Organization, Shahabulddin Montazemi, announced on Wednesday that the cause of the phenomenon is the Botulism disease.

He said the conclusion was drawn from field research and lab results.

Botulism is a rare disease that can be caused by bacterial spores in soil and water.

The dead birds are from 20 different species but 90 percent of them are flamingos and coots.

However, environmental experts have rejected botulism as the cause of this crisis. One environmental expert, Esmail Kahrom, told Iran International that the claim of Botulism as the cause of the death of birds is incorrect.

He stated that Botulism has animal roots, like meat or spoilt fish, and said claiming Botulism as the cause of the crisis is out of ignorance.

Referring to the previous events in the 1990s and 2000s, Kahrom said the cause of the phenomenon could be poison and other intentional measures. He stated that in 1994 hunters poured poison in Miankaleh swamp and caused the death of tons of fish.

He also mentioned that in the 2000s, hunters who had their illegal game confiscated retaliated by pouring 10 liters of pesticide in the swamp which caused the death of hundreds of thousands of birds.

Other environmentalists also doubted the officials’ explanation for the phenomenon and suggested possible intentional causes.