The unusual incident occurred on 27/2 in Longhui District, Hunan. Liu was cleaning the gizzard of a duck raised at his home when he noticed it was unusually heavy and hard. Initially, he thought the duck had swallowed many digestive stones, which are common in poultry. However, after thoroughly washing it, he found small, shiny yellow metal particles.
To verify their authenticity, Liu used a blowtorch to heat the particles. Instead of tarnishing, they retained their luster, confirming they were high-purity gold. The collected gold fragments weighed approximately 10 grams, or about 2.7 taels.
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10 grams of gold found by Liu in the gizzard of a duck raised by his family for Tet, on 27/2 in Hunan Province, China. Photo: Elephant News |
Liu's family often allows their ducks to roam freely near the Chenshui River. According to local residents, this river experienced a "gold rush" from the 1970s to the 1990s before private mining was prohibited by authorities. Experts suggest that poultry might have ingested sand containing fine gold particles while foraging. As the metal cannot be digested, it accumulated in their stomachs.
Liu's unusual story quickly went viral, attracting over 10 million views on social media platforms. One user humorously commented, "Give me the location of this river, I want to raise 1,000 ducks there."
Despite bringing unexpected fortune to the family, the discovery has sparked a legal debate. The Longhui County Natural Resources Bureau stated that a specialized unit is required to verify the gold's origin. Under Chinese law, subterranean minerals are state property, making the ownership of the gold found in the duck's gizzard a complex legal challenge.
This phenomenon is not unique. Some villagers living near the Chenshui River have previously found small quantities of gold in duck stomachs. The incident also brings to mind a practice from the Tang Dynasty, where farmers would collect gold particles from the droppings of poultry raised around mining areas.
Minh Phuong (According to CTWANT, Yahoo)
