The government of Denmark will dig up mink that were culled to prevent the spread of the coronavirus, after some resurfaced from mass graves.
The government ordered mink to be culled early this month after finding that 12 people had been infected by a mutated strain of the virus that causes COVID-19, which passed from humans to mink and back to humans.
The decision led to 17 million animals being destroyed and to the resignation of the Food and Agriculture Minister Morgens Jensen, after it was determined that the order was illegal.
Dead mink were tipped into trenches at a military area in western Denmark and covered with two meters of soil. But hundreds have begun resurfacing, pushed out of the ground by the gas used to kill them caused the carcasses to swell and resurface, prompting Danish media to dub them “zombie mink.”
Jensen’s replacement, Rasmus Prehn said that he supported the idea of digging up the animals and incinerating them.
The macabre burial sites, guarded 24 hours a day to keep people and animals away, have drawn complaints from area residents about possible health risks.
Authorities say there is no risk of the graves spreading the coronavirus, but locals worry about potential contamination of drinking water and a lake less than 200 meters away.