Wildlife Disease News Digest

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Virus ruled out in fish die-off smelt litter shore

Tests have indicated there were no bacterial or viral infections associated with a massive die-off of rainbow smelt in Lake Erie that covered the shoreline from Point Pelee to south of Simcoe with hundreds of thousands of dead fish.

"The lab results didn't really tell us anything we didn't already know," Andy Cook, assessment biologist for the Ministry of Natural Resources, said Tuesday.

A combination of stormy weather during spawning, fish overpopulation and lower body weight are primary causes that lead to massive piles of dead fish floating on shorelines in late May throughout the lake -- including the U.S. side in Ohio and New York.

The Windsor Star - www.windsorstar.com
09 June 2010
D Battagello
Location: Lake Erie, Ontario, Canada - Map It

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Ecology: Emergency medicine for frogs

With chytrid fungus rapidly spreading around the world, researchers are testing an extreme approach to saving endangered amphibian populations.

. . . When Bosch's team evacuated the Mallorcan tadpoles last summer, its goal was to completely eradicate the fungus, which gained a foothold on the island about 20 years ago when frogs were imported to help boost a native species.

"Only four populations are infected, which is why we need to take action very quickly on the island," says Bosch.

Nature News - www.nature.com
09 June 2010
N Lubick
Image courtesy of Nature News

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More Amphibian News
>>> Cane toad threat spreads beyond Australia to Caribbean

Snake Populations Mysteriously Plummet

The world's snakes may be in trouble. New research shows that snake numbers have plummeted in a number of populations worldwide.

"Of 17 populations of snakes covering 11 species, 11 populations had declined. That covered eight species," said study lead author Christopher Reading of the Center for Ecology and Hydrology in Wallingford, U.K.

"They hadn't just declined, they had declined drastically and in exactly the same time and in the same way."

Discovery News - news.discovery.com
09 June 2010
J Marshall
Photo credit: iStockPhoto

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Journal Article Cited
Are snake populations in widespread decline? Biology Letters. Published online before print 09 June 2010.

Northern waterfowl could be sitting ducks in gulf disaster

In two months, blue-winged teal will begin leaving Minnesota for the coastal marshes of Louisiana and other points south.

Within weeks afterward, wood ducks will join the autumn migration, followed by many of the other duck species that nest in the North but spend their winter months along the Gulf Coast.

What exactly awaits these birds is unknown. But for the 13 million ducks and another 1.5 million geese that historically have used Louisiana's coastal marshes either for the entire winter or a portion thereof, it likely won't be good.

Star Tribune - www.kansascity.com
09 June 2010
D Anderson
Photo credit: Win McNamee/Getty Images

>>> FULL ARTICLE

More Gulf Oil Spill News
>>> Number of oiled birds increasing
>>> Gulf Oil Spill Pictures: Birds, Fish, Crabs Coated [includes image gallery]
>>> IMPACT: BP spill response plans severely flawed
>>> BP pledges money from captured oil to aid wildlife

“New” Product -- The WDIN Journal Digest

As a section of its News Digest, the Wildlife Disease Information Node (WDIN) has offered Wildlife Health Related Publications every Tuesday through Thursday. We feel this valuable resource, containing recent journal articles, needs an expanded and special spot of its own. In the near future, each Wednesday will now feature the Journal Digest. The latest wildlife health news stories will continue to be covered Monday, Tuesday, and Thursday.

Look for our new segment this coming Wednesday!

OTHER WILDLIFE HEALTH RELATED NEWS
Photo credit: S Zabel/iStockphoto