How Many Dead Ducks Does it Take for Action?
Sunshine Coast Daily
16 July 2006
Kathy Sundstrom
Photo Courtsey of Sunshine Coast Daily
A CHANCELLOR Park resident has told how he has tried for years to get Maroochy Council and the estate developer to fix its lakes after the sudden death of 42 ducks.
Keith Whiteside, whose home borders lake six, said the 42 muscovy ducks died "about four-and-a-half years ago". "They were filled with maggots and lying rotting next to the lakes. The smell was atrocious, we couldn't close our windows," he said.
"There were also several large eels. We had council, Queensland Health and the Environmental Protection Agency down here investigating it."They found that botulism caused their deaths.
Medical reports say botulism is a bacterial infection which can cause "a rare but potentially fatal condition" in humans and wildlife.
Mr Whiteside said he had been trying to get council and the developer to fix the lakes since then, but had no result.
"We had the local councillor (Steve Dickson) down here, we had the mayor (Alison Grosse at the time), they all looked into it. "All hell broke loose ¡V we went to the local schools as the local doctors said no one must swim in the lake as it was so polluted."
Mr Dickson said this week that that he had "not seen" any report that indicated ducks had died on the lakes from botulism. He also said "ducks die all the time", while he said the death of eels ¡V including one found in the lake yesterday ¡V could have been the result of them swallowing canetoads.
The Daily received correspondence sent to Mr Dickson, dating back to 2001, which showed council already had serious concerns about the "public safety" of the lakes.
Bird Deaths Remain a Mystery
Leader-Post
15 July 2006
Author Pamela Cowan
World class scientists are trying to solve the mystery of why birds are continuing to die at Wascana Centre. Another dead bird was found on Thursday and two more were picked up Friday, west of the waterfowl display ponds, said Van Isman, the centre's executive director.
That brings the death count to about 160 birds since July 2 when the first dead birds were reported to Wascana Centre staff. Helping Wascana Centre Authority investigate the deaths are the Canadian Wildlife Service and the Canadian Co-operative Wildlife Health Centre in Saskatoon, which is affiliated with the University of Saskatchewan's College of Veterinary Medicine.
"These people are world class scientists -- it's expertise I didn't know we had in Saskatchewan," Isman said. The latest toxicology results show the deaths are consistent with poisoning, but it doesn't necessarily mean the birds were intentionally poisoned, he said.
"There is an enzyme in the brain called cholinesterase. If cholinesterase levels get down to between 50 and 60 per cent of normal levels that is sufficient for it to be fatal," he said. The brains of the birds that were studied had levels of approximately five and nine per cent.
"When it's that significant a reduction, that means it was pretty potent stuff that has worked on the brain," Isman said.
Fatal Good Will
Mail Tribune
14 July 2006
Mark Freeman
JACKSONVILLE — Black-tailed deer are dying in droves here from a disease that has turned one reformed deer-feeder into an activist armed with the mantra of "please don't meddle with wildlife."Joan Kirkpatrick said she and her husband have collected seven dead deer along a five-acre stretch of land along Juanita Way in the past month.
Biologists say the animals suffered from adenovirus hemorrhagic disease, a natural virus spread most commonly among deer by people leaving food or water out for wildlife.
Infected blacktails easily pass the disease to other animals before they die in a manner no fans of fawns would ever wish on anything, said Kirkpatrick, who now is just days into her crusade after learning Monday that her deer-feeding was part of the problem and not a solution.
"If they had to haul these deer up to the road for the county to haul away like we've had to, maybe they'd stop feeding the deer," Kirkpatrick said. "It's the saddest, most tragic, horrible thing."
Armed with fliers supplied by the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife, Kirkpatrick is recruiting friends to go door-to-door next week, imploring her neighbors to stop leaving piles of corn and buckets of water for blacktails.
State Will Test Birds for Avian Flu
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
14 July 2006
Kawanza Newson
Photo Courtsey of Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
U.S. Effort Aimed at Early Detection
Many birds heading south along the Mississippi Flyway this fall may have their flights delayed as they undergo screening for a deadly flu strain.Wildlife experts will stop hundreds of waterfowl and shorebirds traveling along Lake Superior, Lake Michigan and the Mississippi River to collect fecal samples for detection of the H5N1 virus. In addition, they'll set up check stations for testing of hunter-killed birds and swab carcasses for the virus that has been infecting bird populations around the world."We're not doing this because we're really worried this will happen here," said Sarah Shapiro Hurley, deputy administrator of the state Department of Natural Resources' land division. "This is just a part of a national program so that we'll know what's going on with the bird population and be aware of whatever viruses might be circulating."
"Clearly, Alaska and other states have a higher probability of having a wild bird with a highly pathogenic virus move across their area," she said. "There is a very low risk of finding a highly pathogenic bird in Wisconsin."
In March, officials representing three federal agencies announced plans to significantly increase testing of wild birds to allow rapid detection of avian flu if it reaches the United States.
That plan called for collection of about 100,000 samples from live and dead wild birds this year, along with 50,000 samples of water or feces from waterfowl habitats across the U.S. Officials also recommended investigation of any disease outbreaks in wild birds and spot checks of birds killed by hunters, as well as those being sold in live bird markets and being raised by farmers.
Many of the samples will be tested in Madison, which is home to the U.S. Geological Survey's National Wildlife Health Center.
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