Sea Otters Still Struggling to Survive
Homer Tribune
10 Jan 07
S Pearson
National Marine Fisheries Service forms investigative team to look into Unusual Mortality Event among Kachemak Bay otters
In September 2005, sea otters from the western side of Cook Inlet westward through the end of the Aleutian Chain were listed as threatened under the Endangered Species Act. For some, finally getting the sea otters on the list was the end of a lengthy battle. For Stranding Coordinator Tim Lebling with the Alaska SeaLife Center, and Fish and Wildlife Service Unusual Mortality Event Coordinator Linda Comerci, it’s just the beginning.
“We continue to see unusually high mortality rates among sea otters in the area,” said Lebling. “This has been going on for the past two years, where we’ve seen more than 100 otters die.” Because of the recent increases, the sea otter mortality event in Homer was officially designated a marine mammal unusual mortality event, or “UME” last fall, and an investigative team including members of the Working Group on Unusual Mortality Events, headed by the National Marine Fisheries Service, and additional sea otter experts, convened with an organizational conference call in mid-November.
Officials Rule Out Bird Flu in Mass of Avian Deaths in Western Australia
The Associated Press (Posted by International Herald Tribune)
12 Jan 07
Wildlife authorities investigating why thousands of birds fell from the sky over a town in remote southwestern Australia have ruled out infectious diseases, including bird flu, but are no closer to working out what killed them, a state official said Friday. Around 5,000 birds have been found dead in Esperance, Western Australia, since mid-December, according to Nigel Higgs, spokesman for the state's Department of Environment and Conservation.
The birds were mostly nectar- and insect-eating species, although some seagulls have also been found, Higgs said in a telephone interview from his office in the Western Australia capital, Perth. Pathologists at the Western Australia Department of Agriculture examined several of the carcasses, but have ruled out the virulent H5N1 bird flu virus and other infectious diseases.
Avian Cholera Causes Bird Die-Off at Butte Sink
YubaNet.com
11 Jan 07
Department of Fish and Game
Preliminary laboratory results indicate avian cholera caused a recent waterfowl die-off at the Butte Sink Wildlife Management Area (WMA) in northern California. While avian cholera is lethal to waterfowl and other water birds, it does not affect humans.
"All indications from the history of the area, the weather, the time of year, and the concentrations of ducks was that we had an avian cholera outbreak," said Dr. Pam Swift, Department of Fish and Game (DFG) wildlife veterinarian. "Even so, the Department and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service) collected samples from birds involved in the die-off and submitted them to both to state and national laboratories to test for a variety of diseases * including avian influenza * to confirm our assessment."
Tasmanian Devil Post-mortem Finds No Trace of Facial TumoursIBN News
10 Jan 07
A post mortem on a second Tasmanian devil that died at Currumbin Wildlife Sanctuary has found no evidence of a facial tumour disease which has killed other animals on the island. The Department of Primary Industries and Water says early results from the post mortem indicate the devil died from bacterial septicemia.
No comments:
Post a Comment