Pathologists examine dead whale on Island's west coast
Canada.com – www.canada.com
13 Apr 2008
CE Harnett
Location: British Columbia, Canada
Pathologists are now picking apart tissue samples to determine the cause of death of a massive sperm whale that washed ashore on a remote stretch of Clayoquot Sound on Vancouver Island's west coast last week.
The 14-metre-long male sperm whale apparently died just recently and was in relatively fresh shape - its flesh still red and its teeth ivory white - when discovered April 9, said John Ford, a marine mammal scientist at the Department of Fisheries and Oceans at the Pacific Biological Station. "That's unusual, usually they are highly decomposed and have been floating out on the high seas for quite a while before they end up on beaches," Ford said.
Fear for wildlife after oil spillBBC News – news.bbc.co.uk
15 Apr 2008
Location: Leicester, England
Riverside rangers in Leicester say an oil spill on the River Soar is the worst they have seen for decades as concern mounts for wildlife.
Heating oil has been discovered in the water and along the banks from Abbey Meadows to Birstall. One bird has already died as a result of the spill. Adrian Lane, who works as a senior riverside ranger with Leicester City Council, described the spill as "absolutely devastating".
State investigating why fish are dying in Scottsdale lakeAzcenteral.com – www.azcentral.com
16 Apr 2008
B Sandoval
Location: Maricopa County, Arizona, USA
The Arizona Game and Fish Department is testing Chaparral Lake to find why fish are dying there. A report released Monday by Game and Fish said that "water quality problems" at Chaparral Lake has made it a poor fishing location. . . .
Eric Swanson, the urban fishing program manager for the Game and Fish, said that he noticed a couple dozen dead fish in Chaparral Lake over the course of four to six days. After determining that the temperature, oxygen and acidity levels at the lake were fine, Swanson called Aquatics Consulting and Testing, a laboratory and lake management company, to test for golden algae, among other things.
River Tweed put on parasite alertBBC News – news.bbc.co.uk
16 Apr 2008
Location: Scotland
Photo courtesy of BBC News
River Tweed users have been urged to play a part in keeping away a parasite which could force the killing of all the fish in the river system.
The Scottish Government has outlined radical plans to deal with the Gyrodactylus salaris. . . . Mr Yonge claimed there was no alternative to the complete cull plans detailed by the government to stop the parasite which has already devastated salmon stocks in Norwegian rivers.
Migrations Disappear and Diseases Jump Species in State of the Wild [Book Overview]Scientific Amercian – www.sciam.com
15 Apr 2008
D Biello
What wilderness remains is in a perilous state and that could prove perilous to humans as new diseases make the jump from wildlife to farm animals to people. . . . Treks such as those done by the caribou every year are disappearing the world over and some have been lost: The big-nosed antelope (Saiga tatarica) of Asia no longer live in China, elephant travels in Africa have been curtailed, and the bison of North America no longer roam the vast interior plains. "Animals move between areas and back again," says biologist Joel Berger of the University of Montana–Missoula. "It's a survival strategy, whether it be wildebeest or caribou."
This fraught relationship does not leave humanity untouched. In addition to the chemical legacy carried by modern people, the book focuses particularly on the growing threat of zoonoses—diseases that jump from animal to human—that can arise from the incursion of people on wild habitats: Of the 58 percent of human diseases caused by germs, 816 of 1,407 known human pathogens emerge from wild animal populations. For example, wild fruit bats have proved to be the reservoir where the Ebola virus waits for a chance to infect people. At the same time, human activities such as deforestation are creating more habitat in which the mosquitoes that spread malaria can thrive, according to environmental health scientist Jonathan Patz of the University of Wisconsin–Madison.
Link to Book Summary on Wildlife Conservation Society Web Site
>>>State of the Wild: A Global Portrait of Wildlife, Wildlands, and Oceans
>>>State of the Wild: A Global Portrait of Wildlife, Wildlands, and Oceans
Bird Flu Spreads, Takes New Pattern
Korean Times – www.koreantimes.co.kr
14 Apr 2008
B Ji-sook
Location: Korea
Avian influenza is spreading in an unusual pattern, arousing fears over the possibility of the virus changing into one that infects humans and later becomes transferable directly from human to human. Experts studying several outbreaks of the bird flu since first reported on April 2 said this time, the outbreak has seen very different patterns from before.
According to governmental reports, the flu appeared to be spread in cold weather by migratory birds visiting Korea during the period. The suitable environment for the virus to infect poultry, especially chickens, was mainly November through to March when temperatures were below 4 degrees Celsius, they said. However, the initial outbreak this year occurred in April, which means the highly contagious flu had appeared in warmer days with summer time approaching.
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