Wildlife Disease News Digest

TOP STORIES

Efforts on 2 Fronts to Save a Population of Ferrets
New York Times - www.nytimes.com
15 July 2008
J Robbins
Image courtesy of Travis Livieri/Prairie Research
Area: Buffalo Gap National Grassland, South Dakota, United States - Map It

A colony that contains nearly half of the black-footed ferrets in the country and which biologists say is critical to the long-term health of the species has been struck by plague, which may have killed a third of the 300 animals. A much-publicized endangered species in the 1970s that had dwindled to 18 animals, the black-footed ferret had struggled to make a comeback and had been doing relatively well for decades. But plague, always a threat to the ferrets and their main prey, prairie dogs, has struck with a vengeance this year, partly because of the wet spring.

>>>FULL ARTICLE

Lincoln researchers find weapon in battle to save frogs
Otago Daily Times - www.odt.co.nz
15 Jul 2008

A new gene study by Lincoln University researchers may provide assistance in the battle to protect threatened frog species. Frog populations throughout the world are being depleted by habitat loss and disease. Of Australasia's 220 frog species, 47 are considered endangered. World-wide, scientists believe about 165 of known frog species may already be extinct. Bruce Waldman, a biologist at Lincoln University, said a new paper to be published tomorrow will outline research which has identified certain genes that could help amphibians develop resistance to harmful bacteria and disease.

>>>FULL ARTICLE

Related News
>>>Fast five: Frog days of summer at Zoo Boise

Tasmanian Devils Fight Cancer with Sex
LiveScience - www.livescience.com
14 Jul 2008
J Bryner
Image courtesy of AP Photo/Rob Griffith
Area: Tasmania Australia

Tasmanian devils have for some years been plagued with a mysterious and lethal cancer. Now, the dog-sized mammals are fighting back: They are breeding at younger ages. . . . Menna Jones of the University of Tasmania and colleagues examined data collected before and after the arrival of the disease from five Tasmanian devil populations on the island. A much higher proportion of older adults, over the age of 3, were present in the populations before the disease appeared. After disease emergence, precocial breeding by 1-year-old females increased dramatically at four sites, increasing from between zero and 12.5 percent beforehand to between 13 percent and 83 percent after.

>>>FULL ARTICLE

Related News
>>>La cópula temprana del 'demonio' para garantizar su supervivencia

Tainted African Dust Clouds Harm U.S., Caribbean Reefs
National Geographic News - news.nationalgeographic.com
14 Jul 2008
B Handwerk
Image courtesy of Nicole Duplaix/NGS

Coral reefs in the United States and the Caribbean may be under siege—from a surprising source half a world away. Scientists say tons of dust from Africa's arid Sahara and Sahel regions could be polluting oceans in the Caribbean and southeastern U.S. The dusty clouds carry contaminants like metals, pesticides and microorganisms—potentially disastrous news for coral reefs and other marine animals already stressed by warming waters. "We're trying to actually look at what is in these African dust air masses when the get over to the Caribbean," said Virginia "Ginger" Garrison, an ecologist with the U.S. Geological Survey in St. Petersburg, Florida, who studies how the dust travels.

>>>FULL ARTICLE

Related News
>>>New Coral Bleaching Prediction System Calls For Low Level Of Bleaching In Caribbean This Year

OTHER WILDLIFE HEALTH NEWS