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Pesticide banned for decades is harming California condors
Scientists have unraveled a mystery about why rare condors in the coastal redwood forests of central California are having problems reproducing. The culprit appears to be the long-ago banned pesticide DDT that lingers in our environment.
The condors that scavenge on dead carcasses are getting DDT from the tissue of their food sources, the scientists say.
Kelly Sorenson, executive director of Ventana Wildlife Society and a co-author of a new study on condors told the AP Press in an exclusive interview: “In science, rarely is anything definitive but we’ve established a strong link between ... DDT and eggshell thinning in California condors.”
Digital Journal
17 Sep 2013
K Blanchard
Location: California, USA
Cited Journal Article
L. Joseph Burnett et al. Eggshell Thinning and Depressed Hatching Success of California Condors Reintroduced to Central California. The Condor: 2013 Aug 115(3): 477-491
Namibia: Conservationists Act on Mass Vulture Poisoning
The poisoning of hundreds of vultures last month in the Zambezi Region has prompted private and government conservationists to push through an urgent protocol in dealing with and avoiding such incidents in future.
Part of this protocol would be calling a convention of conservation authorities from SADC to establish regional co-ordinated legislation to ban over-the-counter and off-the-shelf poisons and pesticides.
"Deliberate and unintentional use of poisons are the single biggest killer of vultures. To have the legislation will be a big step in attempting to recover the numbers of this important bird, which Africa cannot live without," Holger Kolberg, principal conservation scientist in the Ministry of Environment and Tourism (MET), told The Namibian on Wednesday.
The Zambezi Region incident (in the Bwabwata National Park) was more far-reaching than previously reported. While an estimated 500 birds (mostly vultures, but also other carrion species) were discovered in proximity of the carcass of a suspected poached elephant that had been laced with what is believed to be a pesticide, hundreds of other birds are also believed to have died elsewhere, especially since it is the breeding season.
All Africa
16 Sep 2013
Location: Bwabwata National Park, Zambezi, Africa - View on Disease News Map 
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- Dead dolphin washes up on Tumon Bay [Yona, Guam - Map It ]
- Algae-related fish kills plague Indian River Lagoon [View recent cases reported in Florida, USA on the Disease News Map ]
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- ND deer license sales suspended due to disease [North Dakota, USA]
- Wildlife managers track mysterious deer die-off in Montana [EHD suspect][Missoula, Montana, USA - Map It ]
- North Carolina deer hunters asked to help with disease study [North Carolina, USA]
- Changes coming to CWD monitoring this hunting season [Pennsylvania, USA]
- Citizen help critical to avoid spreading wildlife diseases [Missouri, USA]
- Dolphin deaths follow Va. aquarium's prediction [Virgina, USA]
- Spanish bat study shines new light on spread of coronavirus
- How Smartphones Became Vital Tools Against Dengue In Pakistan
- Herpes-Infected Monkeys 'Terrorizing' And 'Ravaging' Florida Very Rarely Infect People
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- Kite poison 'dangerous for humans' [Roundwood, Ireland - Map It ]
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