Exploding Toads Puzzle German Scientists

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Exploding Toads Puzzle German Scientists

 

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Wed Apr 27, 5:55 PM ET

 

BERLIN - More than 1,000 toads have puffed up and

exploded in a Hamburg pond in recent weeks, and

scientists still have no explanation for what's

causing the combustion, an official said Wednesday.

 

Both the pond's water and body parts of the toads have

been tested, but scientists have been unable to find a

bacteria or virus that would cause the toads to swell

up and pop, said Janne Kloepper, of the Hamburg-based

Institute for Hygiene and the Environment.

 

" It's absolutely strange, " she said. " We have a really

unique story here in Hamburg. This phenomenon really

doesn't seem to have appeared anywhere before. "

 

The toads at a pond in the upscale neighborhood of

Altona have been blowing up since the beginning of the

month, filling up like balloons until their stomachs

suddenly burst.

 

" It looks like a scene from a science-fiction movie, "

Werner Schmolnik, the head of a local environment

group, told the Hamburger Abendblatt daily. " The

bloated animals suffer for several minutes before they

finally die. "

 

Biologists have come up with several theories, but

Kloepper said that most have been ruled out.

 

The pond's water quality is no better or worse than

other bodies of water in Hamburg, the toads did not

appear to have a disease, and a laboratory in Berlin

has ruled out the possibility that it is a fungus that

made its way from South America, she said.

 

She said that tests will continue. In the meantime,

city residents have been warned to stay away from the

pond.