Holes Pecked in Plan to Outlaw Wildlife Feeding
Portland Press Herald/Maine Sunday Telegram
07 Feb 2007
A Kim
Photo Courtesy of Portland Press Herald/Maine Sunday Telegram
Raymond Rodrigue has been feeding wild turkeys on his property in Augusta for a decade and enjoying how the resident hens bring their babies to the house each year. So Rodrigue was unhappy to learn about a bill before the Legislature that would impose fines on him for indulging in his pastime or for feeding deer. He spoke against the bill, submitted by Rep. Scott Lansley, R-Sabattus, during a public hearing at the State House on Tuesday.
"I don't see where there's a problem having these birds around," Rodrigue told the Legislature's Inland Fisheries and Wildlife Committee. "You'll make law-abiding people criminals." The bill would prohibit "intentionally" feeding wild turkeys or deer. The first offense would result in a fine of $100 to $500 and the second offense would draw a fine of $500 to $1,000.
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Refuge Plan Slashes Herd: Feds Would Seek to Meet State Population Goals, Depending on Habitat, Overall Health of Wapiti
Jackson Hole News and Guide
07 Feb 2007
C Hatch
A new plan for reducing bison and elk on the National Elk Refuge could mean changes for both the animals that live there and the people who benefit from them. An environmental study released last week supports a plan to reduce the number of bison on the refuge from about 1,100 to about 500 and the number of elk on feed from a maximum of 7,500 to a maximum of about 5,000 through hunting.
The final environmental impact statement says actions meant to improve habitat and reduce disease could also have ramifications for hunting and wildlife viewing. In addition to trimming herd numbers, officials also will reduce supplemental winter feeding, which biologists say helps spread diseases like brucellosis by keeping animals densely concentrated around feed lines.
Poorly-Equipped Doctors Helpless in Face of RVF
IPP Media
07 Feb 2007
A Ihucha
The Northern Zone Veterinary Investigation Center (VIC)is caught in a Catch 22 situation as it has no single laboratory equipment for testing the deadly Rift Valley Fever virus, biologically known as `phlebovirus. This comes in the wake of the epidemic`s outbreak in Arusha. The spreading Rift Valley Fever has killed at least two people in Tanzania's northern safari capital of Arusha in two weeks, and health officials fear that it could become much more widespread.
`To contain the spread of RVF is a daunting task, since we are facing a serious shortage of laboratory gear needed to test phlebovirus, which causes RVF,` said the VIC Senior officer, Dr. Adam Pima. The disease primarily infects livestock, but humans can catch the virus from mosquito bites or exposure to blood, raw milk or other fluids from infected animals.
Journal Article of Interest
Bird Migration Routes and Risk for Pathogen Dispersion into Western Mediterranean Wetlands (free full-text available)
Emerg Infect Dis. 2007 Mar; 13 (3): Epub ahead of print
E Jourdain and et al.
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