Wildlife Disease News Digest

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Parasite likely cause of Texas dove die-offs

A spate of dove die-offs in Texas is likely caused by a parasite, according to state biologists.

Texas Parks and Wildlife is blaming avian trichomoniasis for the die-offs, observed recently from South Texas to the Panhandle.

“It’s a fairly common occurrence, but folks should be aware of it,” said Corey Mason, TPW’s dove program leader.

Lone Star Outdoor News - www.lsonews.com
01 July 2010
Photo courtesy of Lone Star Outdoor News
Location: Texas, USA - Map It

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Rare whale carcass towed to the Del. coast

. . . According to David Morin, a marine mammal specialist with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, the whale was first spotted by the U.S. Coast Guard on Tuesday in the waters between New Jersey and Delaware.

. . . Morin said there is no evidence currently available that could indicate a cause of death; however, according to NOAA's website, ship collisions and entanglement in fishing gear are the most common human causes of serious injury and mortality of the species.

Initial inspection of the carcass indicated the whale is a sub-adult or adult male, which leads researchers to believe its cause of death was not natural.

The Daily Times - www.delmarvanow.com
02 July 2010
S Lake
Photo credit: J King
Location: between New Jersey and Delaware, USA - Map It

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What is killing Argentina's right whales?

Fatal strandings of southern right whales around Argentina's Valdes Peninsula have soared in recent years, and worried scientists are not sure why, the International Whaling Commission heard Friday.

From 1971, when systematic monitoring began, only a relative handful of whale deaths were reported over the next three decades.

Starting in 2003, however, the mortality rate began to soar: from 31 that year, to 47 in 2005, 83 in 2007, 95 in 2008 and 79 last year, the IWC's scientific committee reported. ... Three causes, possibly in combination, have been fingered as possible culprits.

Google News - www.google.com/hostednews [Source: AFP]
26 June 2010
M Hood
Photo credit: J Mabromata/AFP

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Wildlife rescue under way as oil gushes into Gulf

As efforts to contain the largest oil spill in U.S. history continued with no immediate end in sight, the grim toll on wildlife along the Gulf Coast was slowly being tallied.

The government's wildlife impact assessment as of June 23 showed that 1,024 birds, 407 sea turtles, and 47 marine mammals had been found dead along the Alabama, Florida, Louisiana, and Mississippi coasts. Nearly 900 animals had been recovered alive, but less than a hundred had so far been returned to the wild.

Not all the injuries and deaths were attributable to the spill, the report stated, and the causes of death would be determined at a later date.

JAVMA News - www.avma.org/onlnews
01 July 2010
RS Nolen
Photo courtesy of UC-Davis

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More Gulf Oil Spill News
>>> Threatened whale sharks seen in Gulf oil spill
>>> Gulf farmers asked to flood fields for migrating birds
>>> How Endangered Species Are Faring In The Gulf [includes audio]

>>> Environmental groups and BP close to agreement over turtle threat