May 17, 2006

"Wasting disease" Undetected in Bay State Deer
iBerkshires.com
2006 May 15

No evidence of chronic wasting disease was detected in Massachusetts deer based on data gathered during the 2005 hunting season.

MassWildlife recently received results from a federally certified veterinary diagnostic laboratory that indicate that all the deer brain, lymph node, and tonsil samples taken during last fall's hunting season tested negative for the disease. During the fall 2005 deer hunting season, MassWildlife collected 577 samples from hunter-harvested, roadkilled and targeted deer across the state for CWD testing.

This was the fourth year of sampling in Massachusetts as part of a nationwide CWD monitoring and surveillance program. Chronic wasting disease is a fatal neurological disorder known to affect white-tailed deer, mule deer, elk, and moose.

Colorado Lab Helps Monitor Alaska Birds for Signs of Avian Flu
SignOnSanDiego.com
2006 May 15
Jim Erickson

FORT COLLINS, Colo. – A key element of the nation's multimillion-dollar bird flu early-warning system is sealed in 2-inch plastic tubes filled with murky brownish liquid and broken cotton swabs.

A Federal Express box containing 115 of the tubes arrived at a federal laboratory here from Alaska late last week.

The plastic vials hold bird droppings smeared on cotton swabs. The samples come from waterfowl on Adak, a wind-blasted volcanic island in the Aleutian chain, and from Anchorage International Airport.

They are the first of 50,000 fecal samples that will be analyzed this year at the National Wildlife Research Center, a U.S. Department of Agriculture facility in the foothills west of town. The lab received $1.1 million for the project and hired four technicians to work full time on it.

>>>FULL ARTICLE


How Does Global Warming Affect Region 8 Wildlife?
KAIT8.com
2006 May 15

JONESBORO, AR -- In a news conference held Monday morning, the Arkansas Wildlife Federation announced a new poll that shows hunters and fishermen inArkansas feel global warming is affecting wildlife.

Arkansas State University professor Doctor Jim Bednarz says this is something he's seen happening for a while.

“Birds in particular, are shifting their distributions and shifting their time of migration… and also when they nest, all correlated to global warming,” said Bednarz.

Over the past 20 years there has been a major decline in the number of ducks coming down to Arkansas and other southern states. Researchers say, part of that, is due to global warming.

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