TOP STORIES
Indian vultures circling towards extinction
NewScientist Environment – environment.newscientist.com
30 Apr 2008
D MacKenzie
Location: India - Map It
Photo courtesy of Wikipedia
The griffon vultures that used to number in the tens of millions in India could be extinct in the country within a decade, experts say.
Vulture populations started plummeting in the 1990s. New research shows efforts to stop the die-off are failing, and New Scientist can reveal that the domino effects on humans and the ecosystem are worsening.
A virus was the initial suspect for the disappearance of South Asia's griffon vultures. Then, in 2004, US scientists working in Pakistan – which, unlike India, allowed vulture tissue to be taken out of the country for analysis – discovered that the birds were being poisoned by feeding on the carcasses of cattle that had been treated with the painkiller diclofenac.
The drug, commonly used to treat sick cattle, proved to be highly toxic to vultures' kidneys. India banned the manufacture of veterinary diclofenac in 2006.
Mysterious fungus found in Pennsylvania bat caves
Bucks County Courier Times – www.phillyburbs.com
30 Apr 2008
B Scheid
Location: Luzerne - Map It
; Blair - Map It; and Fayette county- Map It, Pennsylvania, USAThe potential bat plague has scientists baffled and many wildlife experts worried that it could annihilate the region's bat population and, in turn, lead to rampant growth in mosquito, moth and other flying insect populations that bats traditionally have kept in check.
“It's pretty scary stuff,” said Sandra Yerger, a manager with the Doylestown Township-based Heritage Conservancy, which owns the Durham Mine Bat Hibernaculum in Upper Bucks.
Yerger said that during a recent inspection of the Durham cave, inspectors with the state Game Commission found no evidence of the fungus, also known as “white nose syndrome,” within the community of an estimated 6,000 bats.
However, state officials might have recently found evidence of the syndrome, a white fungus that appears on the snout and other parts of some bats, in three bat hibernation locations in Luzerne, Blair and Fayette counties. Jerry Feaser, a spokesman for the Game Commission, said Monday that tests on the potential fungus were still to be conducted.
Related Publication
>>>National Wildlife Health Center - Health Bulletin - White-nose syndrome in bats in the Northeastern U.S.
Poison iceSalon.com – www.salon.com
30 Apr 2008
E Grossman
Photo courtesy of Salon
Over 300 miles north of the Arctic Circle, in the polar dark of a December morning, University of Manitoba Ph.D. student Jesse Carrie is out on the frozen Beaufort Sea, collecting ice samples to measure for mercury and pesticides. . . .
. . . High levels of mercury -- a powerful neurotoxin -- are being found in Arctic marine wildlife, including ringed seals and beluga whales, both staples of the traditional Northern diet. Levels in Arctic beluga have increased markedly in recent years.
. . . Alaskan polar bears, for instance, have some of the highest levels yet found in Arctic mammals of hexachlorohexane (HCH), a pesticide used to kill fungi on food crops. Carrie's ice samples, collected hundreds of miles from any agricultural sites, contain HCH. Polar bears also have some of the highest recorded levels of perfluorinated compounds, chemicals used in waterproofing and in fire and stain retardants. Indigenous people in both the Canadian and Greenland Arctic have some of the world's highest exposures to these persistent pollutants.
Mystery of dead fish at lake
icWales.co.uk - icwales.icnetwork.co.uk
01 May 2008
L Elias
Location: Cynon Valley park, Wales, United Kingdom - Map It
A major investigation is underway to determine the cause of death of around 20 fish in the lake at a Cynon Valley park
The Environment Agency has been summoned to Aberdare Park in a bid to solve the mystery and officers have taken the fish away for testing. . . .
. . . Retired ambulance officer Michael Dowland, who walks in the park most days, said he feared the problem had been going on for several weeks. “The water is contaminated to such a degree that it is void of oxygen and nothing can live in it,” he said. . . .
. . . “Officers from the Environment Agency have taken away some fish for testing to establish what disease they have contracted. ”We are awaiting the results.”
OTHER WILDLIFE HEALTH RELATED STORIES
- South Korea reports new case of suspected bird flu- Map It
- Rabies baiting under way
- Biodiversity linked to human health
- Noble Eagles, Nasty Pigeons, Biased Humans
- Chronic Wasting Disease Video Available Online - From Wildlife Management Institute [Video]
- Targeting endocrine disruptors in Australia’s waterways
- Elk Test and Slaughter [Bovine bucellosis][Video]
- Laws Can Prevent Harmful Wildlife Invasions
- DNR encourages deer hunting in TB zone
- Step forward in predicting disease hotspots
- Bird flu detected in Denmark [H7N1 low pathogenic strain]
- Trapped Sea Lion Dies at Tacoma Zoo during Health Exam
Central Texas wildebeest herd to be killed to halt virus [Malignant catarrhal fever] - State starts building wildlife-friendly roads
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