Decaying bodies of thousands of culled minks popped out of their graves raising fears of a zombie mink apocalypse in Denmark. Images of the dead minks lying outside the graves have gone viral on social media.
Fearing Covid-19 mutation that threatened to hamper the effectiveness of the vaccine, Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen had announced the plans of killing the entire mink population in Denmark, which is pegged at 17 million, early November.
What Caused the Dead Minks to Resurface ?
As previously mentioned, after reports of minks carrying strain of COVID-19 mutation surfaced, the Danish prime minister warned that certain strains of the coronavirus, having apparently jumped from the mink back into the humans, have developed mutations that can decrease the efficacy of any vaccines.
The Guardian reported that two weeks following the public outcry over the legality of its decree, the government concluded that the threat to human vaccines had "very likely been extinguished" in the absence of any further cases of the mutated version. Till date, more than 10 million mink have been culled in the country.
Ruling out the zombie minks theory, Thomas Kristensen, a national police spokesman told the state broadcaster DR: "As the bodies decay, gases can be formed. This causes the whole thing to expand a little. In this way, in the worst cases, the mink get pushed out of the ground."
"This is a natural process. Unfortunately, one metre of soil is not just one metre of soil –it depends on what type of soil it is. The problem is that the sandy soil in West Jutland is too light. So we have had to lay more soil on top," Kristensen added.
As a precautionary measure, the authorities in West Jutland tried to tackle the macabre phenomenon by putting extra soil on top of the corpses, which are in a 1 metre-deep trench dug up in a military training field.
Fears over Dead Minks Spreading Infection
Apart from the fears of dead bodies of resurfaced minks capable of spreading infection, there are also concerns that the carcass might be buried too close to a lake, leading to rise of phosphorus and nitrogen pollution. "The authorities are playing with our environment and using it as a dumping ground," Leif Brogger, a local politician, told Jyllands-Posten newspaper.
The Guardian reported that the area where the dead animals are buried will be placed under 24-7 surveillance until a fence goes up. The trend also caught up on social media. "I knew things couldn't go back to normal after Biden won. Thanks for reminding us it's still 2020. Didn't have Zombie Minks on my bingo card," tweeted a user.
"These mink were culled so cruelly and horrifyingly, that I hope they all rise from the dead. RISE ZOMBIE MINKS, and avenge your deaths!" wrote another.
