September 28, 2010

TOP STORIES

State Officials Investigate Deformed Frogs

Several deformed frogs found living in a pond in Los Lunas had the city and the state taking action on Friday.

Pictures taken by a neighbor near Valley View Park in Los Lunas show the frogs, some with only one leg, others with no legs and others with legs only on one side.

Since Action 7 News first aired the story Thursday night, the city of Los Lunas has closed the park and stretched a yellow caution tape around the entire pond.

KOAT 7 News - www.koat.com
24 Sep 2010
Location: Los Lunas, Valencia County, New Mexico, USA - Map It



Another deadly challenge for the sea otter

. . . Now it turns out that some of these playful marine mammals are also being poisoned by an ancient microbe - a type of cyanobacteria - that appears to be on an upsurge in warmer, polluted waters around the world.

The discovery was made by Melissa Miller, a state wildlife veterinarian and scientific sleuth investigating the multitude of things killing otters faster than they can reproduce.

The Southern Sea Otter population has dropped for two years in a row, the U.S. Geological Survey announced last month. An estimated 2,711 otters remain in central and southern California waters.

Miami Herald - www.miamiherald.com (Source: Los Angeles Times)
26 Sep 2010
KR Weiss




Mystery of dead birds on Cape roads

Motorists travelling past the Cape Town International Convention Centre on the Western Boulevard yesterday were greeted by a grisly sight: scores of dead pigeons littering the roadside of the elevated freeway.

It’s not clear what might have caused the deaths – some of the birds were crushed, as though they had been hit by cars, while others had no marks on them.

Asked whether the weekend’s air show at the Ysterplaat air force base might have been the cause, a professional ornithologist said this was unlikely because urban pigeons were very resilient birds that were used to “bangs and crashes and rumbles and roars”.

IOL News - www.iol.co.za
27 Sep 2010
Photo credit: Henk Kruger
Location: Cape Town, South Africa - Map It



OTHER WILDLIFE HEALTH RELATED NEWS
Photo credit: BBC News
Cetaceans