Vets Investigating Yellow-Eyed Penguin Deaths [Press Release]
Massey University (Posted by Scoop Independent News)
15 Mar 2007
Area: Stewart Island, New Zealand
Veterinarians at the University’s Wildlife Ward are investigating the cause of death of the last of a population of endangered yellow-eyed penguins hatched on Stewart Island this breeding season. Dr Andrew Hill, a wildlife vet in the Institute of Veterinary Animal and Biomedical Sciences, spent two weeks on Stewart Island earlier this year collecting blood samples, and another week on Southland’s Catlins Coast studying the population there. He says although all of the 32 chicks in the island’s Anglim coast monitoring area died, the mainland population did not appear to be affected at this stage.
The last chick died of a blood parasite recently discovered on the island, but a number of diseases and environmental factors are believed to be involved in the overall mortality. Investigation is now being focused on the role of disease in Yellow-eyed penguin chicks and methods of reducign mortality. The Yellow-Eyed Penguin Trust says this year’s breeding season is the worst since monitoring began four years ago, when the research programme into the island’s declining penguin population began.
Tortoise Vendors to Shell Out after Sting Operation
The Citizen
15 Mar 2007
C Thompson
Area: Phokeng, South Africa
Four men were arrested at the weekend in a sting operation targeting vendors of wildlife species like leopard, tortoises and other reptiles on the N4 to Sun City. North West Conservation MEC Mandlenkosi Mayisela said the department was intensifying the fight against the illegal trade in wildlife. There had been “a number of complaints from members of the public” about the practice along the N4 to Sun City. The provincial department organised a joint operation with the SAPS Organised Crime Unit at the weekend.
They used surveillance cameras in two sting operations, in which two tortoises were bought for R300 and R400. One suspect, a young man, led police to the home of a 66-year-old man in Mamerotswe village in Phokeng, where about nine tortoises and other reptiles, including snakes, were found. Mayisela said departmental officials had been “reliably informed” that the man ran an operation to harvest protected species from the surrounding habitat. Eleven tortoises were confiscated in this operation and the alleged offenders were taken to the Phokeng and Bethanie Police stations. They will appear in the Tlhabane and Ga-Rankuwa magistrate’s courts.
Avian Influenza, Poultry vs Migratory Birds - Archive Number 20070314.0905
International Society for Infectious Diseases - ProMED-mail
13 Mar 2007
K Winkler et al.
Asian-origin avian influenza (AI) viruses are spread in part by migratory birds. In Alaska, diverse avian hosts from Asia and the Americas overlap in a region of intercontinental avifaunal mixing. This region is hypothesized to be a zone of Asia-to-America virus transfer because birds there can mingle in waters contaminated by wild-bird-origin AI viruses. Our 7 years of AI virus surveillance among waterfowl and shorebirds in this region (1998-2004; 8254 samples) showed remarkably low infection rates (0.06 percent) [There were only 5 positive samples, and none were H5. - Mod.MHJ].
Our findings suggest an Arctic effect on viral ecology caused perhaps by low ecosystem productivity and low host densities relative to available water. Combined with a synthesis of avian diversity and abundance, intercontinental host movements, and genetic analyses, our results suggest that the risk and probably the frequency of intercontinental virus transfer in this region are relatively low. Our surveillance did not show a "hotspot" of AI virus infection among avian hosts. Much higher infection rates are known from other multiyear surveillance studies at lower latitudes, e.g., Delaware Bay (4.7 percent, [32]), southern Minnesota (10.8 percent, [5]), and Alberta (22.2 percent, [32]) and British Columbia in Canada (55 percent, although only a single-year study, [33]).
Keas’ Taste for Lead Endangers Wild Population [News Release]
Massey University
15 Mar 2007
Area: South Island, New Zealand
The natural inquisitiveness of keas, combined with the sweet taste of some lead-based products, is endangering its health and population numbers. Dr Jenny Youl, a veterinarian in the University’s New Zealand Wildlife Health Centre in Palmerston North, has discovered high levels of lead in the population of wild keas living around Mt Cook. Dr Youl’s preliminary results from research undertaken in collaboration with the Department of Conservation and behavioural researchers from Victoria University, indicate that at least seven of 10 dead wild kea from the Mt Cook area died from toxic levels of lead in their body. Dr Youl says that 16 of the 18 samples from live wild keas had lead levels greater than the allowable level in humans (0.1mg/l).
Two of the birds sampled had levels high enough to cause serious disease and death. She says lead is ubiquitous throughout the New Zealand environment due to its presence in construction materials, shot, petrol, paints and batteries. It can also be sweet tasting and may be sought out by animals feeding in a contaminated area. She says the particularly inquisitive and destructive nature of kea and the fact that they learn through manipulation of objects has lead to incidences of ingestion of foreign substances. Likely sources for kea are lead head nails and lead flashing on old huts and homes.
Rabid Kitten Unleashes Worries: Veterinary Workers, Owners Are Treated
Telegram & Gazette
15 Mar 2007
L Welsh
Area: Worcester, United Kingdom
The state rabies lab notified Abbott Animal Hospital yesterday that a 12-week-old kitten from a house in Worcester had tested positive for rabies. Three staff members at the hospital, who were scratched, are being treated against rabies, as are the kitten’s owners. “This is an epidemiologic nightmare,” said Dr. Wayne F. Rocheleau of Abbott Animal Hospital. “Health officials have a hard job ahead of them. There were a lot of cats in that house.”
According to officials, the kitten was adopted by a Worcester family and had been examined one month ago at Abbott Animal Hospital on Mountain Street. On Sunday, however, the kitten became ill, and on Monday it was taken back to Abbott Animal Hospital. The kitten’s condition continued to deteriorate, and it was euthanized Tuesday. “We are working with the Worcester Health Department to identify all individuals who were possibly exposed to the kitten, as well as any other animals that came in contact with it,” Dr. Rocheleau said.
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