February 12, 2009

TOP STORIES

Salamanders "Completely Gone" Due to Global Warming?
National Geographic News - news.nationalgeographic.com
09 Feb 2009
C Dell'Amore
Area: Central America

Silent and secretive creatures, salamanders are just as quietly falling off the map in tropical forests throughout Central America, a new study says. Two common species surveyed in the 1970s in cloud forests of southern Mexico and Guatemala are extinct, and several others have plummeted in number, researchers say. The tiny amphibians seem to be on the same downward spiral as their frog cousins, which have been mysteriously declining for years. Scientists have identified chytrid, a fast-killing fungus that may spread in waves, as responsible for wiping out frogs around the world.





Another dead bird found in Hong Kong tests positive for H5N1
China View - news.xinhuanet.com
10 Feb 2009
Area: Lantau Island, Hong Kong, China - Map It

A dead large-billed crow found on Hong Kong's outlying Lantau Island was confirmed to be H5N1 positive after testing for avian influenza, the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) government said Tuesday. The Agriculture, Fisheries and Conservation Department (AFCD) said the dead bird was collected at the Ancient Kiln Park on Lantau on Feb. 5, adding that the carcass was highly decomposed when found and required a series of confirmatory testing. Large-billed crow is a common resident bird in Hong Kong, it added. The department said there were no poultry farms within three kilometers of where the dead bird was found but authorities will continue to remain highly vigilant.




Kauai whale's death a mystery
Honolulu Advertisor - www.honoluluadvertiser.com
11 Feb 2009
D Leone
Photo credit: Dennis Fujimoto/Garden Island via AP
Area: West Kaua'i Beach, Hawaii, USA - Map It

After examining a young humpback whale carcass on a West Kaua'i beach yesterday, scientists still aren't sure why it died. Preliminary findings are that the 17-foot long female calf had abnormalities in some organ systems, but scientists found nothing that indicates a conclusive cause of death, said Wende Goo, spokeswoman for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. NOAA Fisheries staff, a contract veterinarian and the Hawai'i Pacific University Marine Mammal Response Team conducted a necropsy at the Pacific Missile Range Facility yesterday. The animal washed up Monday at Kekaha Beach and was moved to the nearby base with the help of the Coast Guard and Kaua'i lifeguards.

>>>FULL ARTICLE

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>>>Dynamite use eyed in dolphin stranding [Phillipines]



Pesticide use bugs lawmakers: Link to lobster die-off comes into focus
Easton Courier - www.acorn-online.com
09 Feb 2009
C Reid
Area: Long Island Sound, Connecticut, USA

A pair of Democratic lawmakers say they plan to grill the state Department of Environmental Protection over its efforts to restore the state’s lobster industry while ignoring industry experts on the effects of pesticides lobstermen say continue to kill the animals. Commercial fishermen claim pesticides many communities used to combat mosquitoes caused the lobster die-off in 1999 that all but wiped-out the state’s $40 million lobster industry. The DEP, however, says there is not enough scientific data pointing specifically to the pesticides malathion or Altosid as the root cause of the die-off. Without that evidence, the DEP says, it cannot and will not ban the use of the chemicals. “It’s time we stop looking at Long Island Sound like it’s just a recreational body of water and start looking at it like it’s a job site.




Millions of animals dead in Australia fires
Associated Press - www.ap.org
11 Feb 2009
K Gelineau
Area: New South Wales, Australia - Map It

Kangaroo corpses lay scattered by the roadsides while wombats that survived the wildfire's onslaught emerged from their underground burrows to find blackened earth and nothing to eat. Wildlife rescue officials on Wednesday worked frantically to help the animals that made it through Australia's worst-ever wildfires but they said millions of animals likely perished in the inferno. Scores of kangaroos have been found around roads, where they were overwhelmed by flames and smoke while attempting to flee, said Jon Rowdon, president of the rescue group Wildlife Victoria. Kangaroos that survived are suffering from burned feet, a result of their territorial behavior. After escaping the initial flames, the creatures — which prefer to stay in one area — likely circled back to their homes, singeing their feet on the smoldering ground.





OTHER WILDLIFE HEALTH RELATED NEWS
Photo credit: Guardian - The week in wildlife




WILDLIFE HEALTH RELATED PUBLICATIONS

Journal of Wildlife Diseases - Jan 2009
Vol. 45, No. 1

National Wildlife Research Center - List of Annual 2008 Publications
U.S. Dept. of Agriculture

Title Samples
  • Road mortality of terrestrial vertebrates in Indiana.
  • Influenza infection in wild raccoons.
  • Use of bird-banding information to investigate disease, safety, and economic issues of birds and their interactions with humans.


Social and economic considerations for planning wildlife conservation in
large landscapes
2009. In: Millspaugh, J.J.; Thompson, F.R., eds. Models
for planning wildlife conservation in large landscapes. Burlington, MA:
Academic Press: 123-152. [free full-text available]
RG Haight and PH Gobster

Mapping functional connectivity.
Ecological Indicators. 2009; 9: 64-71
P Vogt et al.

A review of disease related conflicts between domestic sheep and goats and
bighorn sheep
2008. Gen. Tech. Rep. RMRS-GTR-209 Fort Collins, CO: U.S.
Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Rocky Mountain Research Station.
16 p.
TJ Schommer and MM Woolever, Melanie M.

at Thursday, February 12, 2009

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