Wildlife Disease News Digest

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Killer Fungus Threatening Amphibians
ScienceDaily - www.sciencedaily.com (Source: Society for General Microbiology)
23 Nov 2009
Photo credit: iStockphoto/Mark Kostich

Amphibians like frogs and toads have existed for 360 million years and survived when the dinosaurs didn't, but a new aquatic fungus is threatening to make many of them extinct, according to an article in the November issue of Microbiology Today.

The fungus, Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis (Bd),was found to be associated with waves of amphibian extinctions in Central America and north-eastern Australia in the 1990's. Bd infects over 350 amphibian species by penetrating their skin, but little else is known about where it came from and how it causes disease.

>>>FULL ARTICLE

Cited Journal Article
>>>Disease-driven declines in global amphibian biodiversity. Microbiology Today. 2009 Nov. [Epub ahead of print].

Our Earth Apes in Danger: Tourists Spread Disease
Babelgum - www.babelgum.com
23 Nov 2009

Tourists walk through the forests in the Congo in the hope of a chance sighting of a wild chimpanzee, but do they realise the impact their colds and flus could have on the dwindling chimpanzee population? Interesting video from BBC wildlife show 'Apes In Danger'.

>>>VIDEO

Disease may play role in quail decline
PressZoom.com - presszoom.com
23 Nov 2009

Disease may be playing a role in the demise of Texas quail, said a Texas AgriLife Extension Service expert.

“Quail season has been disappointing,” said Dr. Dale Rollins, AgriLife Extension wildlife specialist at San Angelo. “By Texas standards, wild quail hunting has been sub-par since 2006, and I’m wondering if disease might not be part of the puzzle. Certainly, it’s probably not the key reason, but I’m starting to suspect it may be a contributing factor.”

Rollins said coccidiosis ( malady caused by parasitic protozoans of the digestive system ) is often blamed, but exactly what disease might be behind the drop in quail populations, or even if there is a disease contributing to the problem, is currently unknown.

>>>FULL ARTICLE

Fight to protect California condors from lead ammunition moves to Arizona
Scientific American - www.scientificamerican.com
20 Nov 2009
J Platt

. . . "Arizona has a pretty significant lead-poisoning problem," Miller says. "It's been worse than in California for the last few years, and the Arizona government is bending over backwards to hand out free nonlead ammo to hunters. Still, there have been quite a few lead-related deaths.

"It doesn't take many hunters using lead ammo to poison a significant number of birds," Miller says. "One flock of birds on a carcass can create an immediate crisis. We would have had more deaths if the condors were not so well managed and monitored."

>>>FULL ARTICLE