Wildlife Disease News Digest

TOP STORIES

Toxic mining wastes kill tundra swans in Idaho
Anchorage Daily News - www.adn.com [source: Associated Press)
23 Apr 2009
Location: Coeur d'Alene River, Idaho, USA - Map It

LEAD: Contamination shuts down migrating birds' digestion and they starve.

A grim death toll of migrating tundra swans is again being observed at northern Idaho marshes contaminated with toxic mining waste.

Thousands of swans headed for breeding grounds in Alaska stop each spring at the marshes along the Coeur d'Alene River.

But the roots and tubers they feed on are laced with lead that's part of about 100 million tons of mining waste from the Silver Valley that has washed into the river system over the past century.

Lead shuts down the swans' digestive systems and the birds slowly starve to death -- at least 150 annually.

>>> FULL ARTICLE

UC Davis launches 'One Health' care for wild mountain gorillas and human neighbors
First Science.com - www.firstscience.com
23 Apr 2009
University of California-Davis

Renowned wildlife veterinarians will help 740 remaining animals in African national parks

The University of California, Davis, today launched a new "One Health" program to conserve the world's remaining 740 mountain gorillas by caring for not only the gorillas but also the people and the other animals that share their home in the forests of central Africa.

With $750,000 in funding from the David and Lucile Packard Foundation, UC Davis will establish the Mountain Gorilla One Health Program in the School of Veterinary Medicine's Wildlife Health Center.

>>> FULL ARTICLE

Dead bird surveillance program to begin
The Review - www.reviewonline.com
23 Apr 2009

Jolene Zuros, registered sanitarian for the Hancock County Health Department, reminds residents of Hancock County to be aware that the dead bird surveillance program for the West Nile Virus begins May 1 and continues through Nov. 30.

>>> FULL ARTICLE

Related West Nile Virus News

>>> West Nile funding cut as cases continue to decline

>>> Health unit changes West Nile focus

>>> Whither West Nile?

Deaths of fish, birds probed at NJ reservoir
Philly.com - www.philly.com (source: Associated Press)
23 Apr 2009
Location: Oradell Reservoir, New Jersey, USA - Map It

Authorities are investigating why fish and birds are dying at a higher-than-normal rate at a northern New Jersey reservoir.

A security guard first noticed the dead fish, mostly carp, along the banks of the Oradell Reservoir April 14. More fish and birds, mergansers, started turning up dead in the days that followed.

>>> FULL ARTICLE

Still no answers over Potomac fish deformities
Earth News - www.earthportal.org
22 Apr 2009
Location: Potomac River, Maryland, USA - Map It

After six years of investigation, scientists are still unsure what is causing more than 80 percent of the male smallmouth bass in the Potomac River to grow eggs.

After “intersex” fish were first discovered in a West Virginia tributary in 2003, biologists launched an investigation into the fish deformities.

The findings, released yesterday, affirmed the deformities continue to occur — in some places, between 82 percent and 100 percent of male fish displayed some female characteristics — but did not identify the cause.

>>> FULL ARTICLE

Road kill tally hints at wildlife health
New Scientist - www.newscientist.com
24 Apr 2009

IT MIGHT be gruesome, but counting road kill could be a quick and effective way to spot local changes in wildlife populations.

In 1984, 1994 and 2005, Bob Brockie and Richard Sadleir, two retired ecologists, drove the length of New Zealand's North Island, counting dead animals along the way. Then, along with Wayne Linklater of Victoria University of Wellington, they compared their data with road kill counts going back to 1949.

In some cases, the counts agreed with known changes in a population. . . . "Interestingly, the decline coincides with a nosedive in hedgehog numbers in Britain, so perhaps a disease could be responsible," says Brockie.

>>> FULL ARTICLE

LAST WEEK'S TOP READ LINKS

News