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Mass graves for mink near Holstebro, Denmark: "Unfortunately, one meter of earth is not always one meter of earth"
Photo: MORTEN STRICKER / AFP
What a spokesman for the Danish police last told the TV broadcaster DR sounds like a mixture of "cemetery of cuddly toys" and "dance of the devil".
Thomas Kristensen and his colleagues are currently grappling with a rather unusual problem: The dead bodies of mink are being pushed out of the mass graves.
The British Guardian, among others, reported on the cases.
"While the bodies decompose, gases are formed," says Kristensen.
“That makes the whole thing expand a little.
In this way, in the worst case, the minks are pressed out of the earth. "
Between 15 and 17 million minks had been killed in the country by mid-month.
The Danish government had previously announced that all fur animals should be destroyed because the coronavirus had mutated in the animals and had already been transmitted to humans.
At the time of the announcement, however, there was no legal basis for the mass culling of all mink in the country - including those from farms without a corona case or outside the risk areas.
The Danish government admitted this belatedly, which ultimately led to Food Minister Mogens Jensen announcing his resignation.
So much for the political consequences.
Some time has now passed - and in West Jutland, among other places, the mass graves of small animals are becoming a problem.
Thousands of minks were buried there on a military site at a depth of about one meter.
Another layer of earth has to be applied there to stop the macabre phenomenon.
Not all earth is created equal - according to the police
Especially in this case, the nature of the subsoil also complicates the situation.
"Unfortunately, one meter of earth is not always one meter of earth," said Spokesman Kristensen.
The sandy soil in West Jutland is just too light.
Therefore, more soil must now be placed on top.
The Danish Ministry of the Environment says the phenomenon is due to the process of decay and is only temporary.
Surveillance was set up around the clock in the area until a fence will soon keep people and animals away from the area.
Transmission of the corona virus through the dead animals is very unlikely.
Numerous local residents and environmental groups have also expressed concerns that the mass graves could affect the groundwater or nearby bodies of water.
According to the newspaper »Jyllands Posten«, at least two mayors in the region have called for the minks to be dug up and burned again.
That would also have solved the problem of the "zombie rodents".
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