Officials Consider Ways to Cull Wildlife
ABC News
26 Aug 2006
Jim Avila and Beth Tribolet
Photo Courtesy of ABC News
Parks and Wildlife Refuges Weigh Extreme Solutions to Overpopulation, Wasting Disease
Rangers at America's national parks may be doing too good a job protecting the wildlife: Overpopulation of some animals has led to the spread of disease and is prompting park management to consider extreme solutions — perhaps even hiring professional hunters or sharpshooters.
In Rocky Mountain National Park, a rampaging disease threatens to destroy the brains of the deer population and the 2,200 elk that overpopulate the mile-high refuge above Fort Collins, Colo. Wildlife veterinarians tranquilize weak-looking deer with darts and test for signs of chronic wasting disease.
Animals with positive results are destroyed. It is crucial work because deer and elk are so abundant in the park that the outbreak of the disease with symptoms similar to mad cow is in danger of killing them all. "Congregations of animals lead to transmission of disease," says Dr. Margaret Wild, a veterinarian with the National Park Service.
DDT Makes a Comeback in Effort to Halt Malaria
baltimoresun.com
27 Aug 2006
Scott Calvert
Men in blue coveralls and white surgical masks began their annual trek into the countryside here last week. Methodically, they sprayed one home after another with a chemical most Americans probably thought disappeared from use long ago: DDT.
As villagers looked on, the workers doused inside and outside walls with a fine mist. It is a yearly effort to repel and kill mosquitoes that carry malaria - a disease that kills more than a million people a year, mostly children in sub-Saharan Africa.
This small kingdom near South Africa is one of a handful of countries still using the pesticide, banned in the United States in 1972 because of its toxic effect on eagles and other wildlife. But now DDT is poised for expansion in the developing world.
'Migratory Birds Not Spreading Bird Flu'
Inter Press Service News Agency
25 Aug 2006
Marwaan Macan-Markar
When new strains of the deadly bird flu virus were recently detected in poultry in Thailand and Laos, wildlife enthusiasts had reason to feel vindicated. The prevailing hot weather was off season for migratory birds, often blamed for spreading avian influenza.
By the time ducks in Cambodia showed signs of being infected, the theory that wild birds carry the H5N1 strain of the virus across international boarders was further discredited. This view had first gained hold in this region in 2004 when the current outbreak of the lethal virus began and rapidly spread across a broad sweep of countries.
''There has never been any conclusive, properly documented evidence that wild birds are carriers of the virus,'' Richard Thomas, editor of 'World Birdwatch,' said in an e-mail interview. ''Tens of thousands of healthy, wild, migrant waterfowl in Hong Kong have been tested over the last decade, yet there is not a single positive-for-H5N1 amongst them.''
Effective Sept. 1, Feeding Deer Will Be Illegal in Virginia [Press Release]
U.S. Newswire
25 Aug 2006
Effective Sept. 1, a regulation making it illegal to feed deer will go into effect statewide. The prohibition runs through the first Saturday in January. This regulation does NOT restrict the planting of crops such as corn and soybeans, wildlife food plots, and backyard or schoolyard habitats. It is intended to curb the artificial feeding of deer that leads to negative consequences.
Problems with feeding deer include: unnaturally increasing population numbers that damage natural habitats; disease transmission, including tuberculosis as well as many deer diseases; and human-deer conflicts such as deer/vehicle collisions and inappropriate semi-taming of wildlife.
In addition, feeding deer has many law enforcement implications. Deer hunting over bait is illegal in Virginia, but deer feeding has not been. Distinguishing between who is feeding deer and who is hunting over bait has often caused law enforcement problems for the Department in the past.
Dead Fish Lead to Beach Closure
MiamiHerald.com
27 Aug 2006
Carli Teproff
What caused two life guards to get sick and hundreds of small dead fish to wash ashore in Sunny Isles Beach last week remains a mystery. But city officials feel the waters are once again safe for swimming. ''I don't think we will ever know exactly what caused it,'' said Susan Simpson, the city's cultural and human services director. ``I think we will just get results saying the water is good.''
When officials found a multitude of small silver fish on the beach's shore and some floating on top of the water Aug. 18, officials posted red flags and small signs to warn swimmers to stay out of the water on the two-mile stretch of beach. ''We decided it was in the best interest of everyone to take the precaution of posting the no-swimming signs,'' said Sunny Isles Beach City Manager John Szerlag.
The advisory lasted all weekend, and at about 5 p.m. Tuesday, Szerlag lifted the warnings after no dead fish washed up for several days and no illness was reported. The red flags went down and the green flags went up. Simpson said the words red tide -- an algae bloom releasing a toxin that can kill fish and cause coughing, sneezing and watery eyes in humans -- floated around because of the number of dead fish.
Officials to Seek 'Middle Ground' in Domestic Deer Dispute
Associated Press (Posted by dailypress.com)
27 Aug 2006
Virginia game officials are negotiating with a woman who keeps pet deer to move the dispute out of the courts, an attorney for the woman said. Phyllis Goforth, 73, was found guilty in May of having five European fallow deer and one native white-tailed deer without permits. She appealed the ruling and was to appear in court again last week.
But Commonwealth's Attorney James R. Ennis said he did not see the point of spending time and money on a jury trial. Instead, the Virginia Department of Game and Inland Fisheries is looking into a compromise. "I am thrilled to death. I'm hoping there's no more problems. I can sleep better now," Goforth said.
Goforth's attorney, Jason Jacoby of Richmond, said wildlife officials "would like to explore some kind of middle ground so that Mrs. Goforth would have access to the deer and enjoyment of the deer." State game officials wanted to euthanize the white-tailed deer and test it for tuberculosis and chronic wasting disease, an illness similar to mad cow disease that has been found in deer in Pennsylvania and West Virginia as well as several Western states.
New Wildlife Task Force to Combat Illegal Trade
Thai Day
28 Aug 2006
The Royal Thai Police’s first training course for a special task force it has established as part of intensifying efforts by regional law enforcement officials to combat the illegal wildlife trade, will end tomorrow.
The course is being attended by officers from the Natural Resources and Environmental Crime Division and is the latest activity by the new ASEAN Wildlife Enforcement Network (ASEAN-WEN), which says it signals Thailand’s increased commitment to tackling the illegal trafficking of wildlife worth billions of dollars a year.
Subjects covered during the course include surveillance, interrogation and investigation techniques, wildlife identification and care, and wildlife conservation laws. The officers have also learned about links between the illegal wildlife trade and other illicit activities such as drug smuggling.
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