February 24, 2010

TOP STORIES

Pelican Grief: Stranded Seabirds Hungry, Wet - Food shortage, heavy rains likely at root of problem

Five more stricken brown pelicans were taken to the SPCA for Monterey County for emergency treatment over the weekend, and on Monday, state scientists said they probably know why this winter is hitting the seabirds so hard.

Rough weather and a shortage of the birds' favorite foods — anchovies and sardines — are the primary causes for the strandings of hundreds of emaciated and waterlogged pelicans along the California and Oregon coasts, state wildlife officials said.

"Unfortunately, we are looking primarily at a cyclical event driven largely by weather and oceanographic conditions," said state Department of Food and Game veterinarian Melissa Miller in a prepared statement. "Food shortages coupled with bad weather have taken a toll on the pelicans.

The Monterey Herald - www.montereyhearld.com
L Parsons
23 Feb 2010

Photo courtesy of Monterey Herald
Location: California, USA


More Pelican News

3 California condors die of lead poisoning

Test results show the rare birds died after eating the carcasses of dead animals that had been shot by hunters using lead ammunition.

Three rare California condors in northern Arizona died last month because they ingested lead pellets while feeding on the carcasses of dead animals, according to test results released Monday.

The deaths from lead poisoning are the first in three years among condors in Arizona and Utah. The Peregrine Fund recovered the bodies of a female condor and her year-old chick from the Grand Canyon, and that of a young male from the Arizona-Utah border.

Birds foraging in southern Utah present a challenge for recovery program officials, who must persuade hunters there to stop using lead ammunition.

Los Angeles Times - www.latimes.com (source Associated Press)
23 Feb 2010

Location: USA, Arizona - Map It and Utah - Map It

>>> FULL ARTICLE


Huge number of manatees gather in Lee County

Almost 900 manatees have turned the Orange River into a cold-water marine-mammal traffic jam. At the same time, manatees continue to die from cold stress throughout the state.

Last week, John Reynolds, director of Mote Marine Laboratory’s Manatee Research Program, conducted an aerial survey of power plants and other warm-water areas across the state.

His total count was 2,842 manatees, 909 of which were in Lee County — 897 in the Florida Power & Light warm-water discharge on the Orange River and 12 at Matlacha Isles.

news-press.com - www.news-press.com
21 Feb 2010
K Lollar
Photo courtesy of new-press.com
Location: Florida, USA



OTHER WILDLIFE HEALTH RELATED NEWS

Photo courtesy of BBC News

Coral Reef News
It Ain't All Bad News

WILDLIFE HEALTH RELATED PUBLICATIONS
Browse complete Digest publication library here.

Highly Pathogenic H5N1 Avian Influenza Virus Induces Extracellular Ca2+ Influx, Leading to Apoptosis in Avian Cells
J Virol. 2010 Jan 6. [Epub ahead of print]
M Ueda et al.

Economic cost analysis of West Nile virus outbreak, Sacramento County, California, USA, 2005 [free full-text available]
Emerg Infect Dis. 2010 March; [Epub ahead of print]
LM Barber et al.

Bayesian Networks and Adaptive Management of Wildlife Habitat
Conservation Biology. 2010; [Epub ahead of print]
AL Howes et al.

Enzootic Plague Reduces Black-Footed Ferret (Mustela nigripes) Survival in Montana
Vector Borne Zoonotic Dis. 2010 January/February;10(1):27-35.
MR Matchett et al.

Consumption of Baits Containing Raccoon Pox-Based Plague Vaccines Protects Black-Tailed Prairie Dogs (Cynomys ludovicianus)
Vector Borne Zoonotic Dis. 2010 January/February;10(1):53-58.
TE Rocke et al.