Parasite Kills Endangered Tigers in Pakistan Zoo
Reuters AlertNet
Apr 21 2006

KARACHI, April 21 (Reuters) - A blood parasite that has killed scores of tigers in India and Bangladesh has now killed two endangered Bengal tigers at a zoo in Pakistan, officials said on Friday.

The tigers died in Lahore Zoo on Wednesday, victims of the "Trypanosoma" parasite which is spread by flies and mosquitoes, Nasir Saleem, a deputy director of the zoo, said.

The parasite is known to have killed over 100 tigers in India and Bangladesh in the last six months.

Zoo director Mohammmad Yousuf Pal said the parasite killed eight tigers in Pakistan in 1995 and 1997.

"We are taking every precautionary measure and treatment to ensure it does not become an epidemic in our country," he said.

The Bengal tiger is endangered because of poaching and loss of habitat, with less than 3,000 left in the wild today. India alone had an estimated 40,000 tigers at the beginning of the last century.

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Plague Could Kill Ferrets' Only Food
Indystar.com
23 April 2006
Jim Robbins

WALL, S.D. -- Black-footed ferrets -- weasels with a burglar's mask that were brought back after reaching the brink of extinction -- are facing a new challenge from the spread of plague in prairie dogs, their only prey.

The disease has slowed the growth of the wild population, which is replenished by the introduction of captive-bred ferrets. And plague is now approaching a colony of prairie dogs that supports half the wild ferret population.

Wildlife biologists are waiting to see whether the disease will reach the Conata Basin here, a treeless moonscape next to Bad-lands National Park with the largest population of black-footed ferrets anywhere in the country.

"If we lose Conata, oh boy, the program is in trouble," said Michael Lockhart, coordinator of the black-footed ferret recovery program for the federal Fish and Wildlife Service.

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Wet Spring May Lead to Starving Bats
ContraCostaTimes.com
23 April 2006
Edie Lau

Expert urges people who come across the suffering animals to call for help, not kill them out of fear of rabies

SACRAMENTO - Emaciated and seemingly exhausted, bats are landing in yards around Northern California, possibly starving as a consequence of the cold, wet spring, local bat rescue volunteers say.

Dharma Webber, founder of the California Native Bat Conservancy, said the inclement weather has suppressed populations of flying insects that bats rely upon for food.

Although no one has scientific data showing that insect numbers are low enough to cause a bat famine, Webber said the bats look like starving animals.

"You can see their ribs, their backbones, and (the area) where the intestine and the stomach are is completely sunk through to the back," said Webber, who is nursing 30 bats in her home in Placerville.

A network of five bat rehabilitators are caring for about 50 bats total, Webber said, 30 of which they picked up within the past two weeks. Ordinarily, the nonprofit conservancy rescues between 200 and 400 bats a year.

Webber is concerned that bats' reputation as carriers of rabies will cause people to "freak out" if they find a sick bat. She said they should not kill the animal or throw it in the garbage. Instead, they should call for help.

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