TOP STORIES 
Five more stricken brown pelicans were taken to the SPCA for Monterey County for emergency treatment over the weekend, and on Monday, state scientists said they probably know why this winter is hitting the seabirds so hard.
Rough weather and a shortage of the birds' favorite foods — anchovies and sardines — are the primary causes for the strandings of hundreds of emaciated and waterlogged pelicans along the California and Oregon coasts, state wildlife officials said.
"Unfortunately, we are looking primarily at a cyclical event driven largely by weather and oceanographic conditions," said state Department of Food and Game veterinarian Melissa Miller in a prepared statement. "Food shortages coupled with bad weather have taken a toll on the pelicans.
L Parsons
23 Feb 2010
Photo courtesy of Monterey Herald
Location: California, USA
3 California condors die of lead poisoning
Test results show the rare birds died after eating the carcasses of dead animals that had been shot by hunters using lead ammunition.
Three rare California condors in northern Arizona died last month because they ingested lead pellets while feeding on the carcasses of dead animals, according to test results released Monday.
The deaths from lead poisoning are the first in three years among condors in Arizona and Utah. The Peregrine Fund recovered the bodies of a female condor and her year-old chick from the Grand Canyon, and that of a young male from the Arizona-Utah border.
Birds foraging in southern Utah present a challenge for recovery program officials, who must persuade hunters there to stop using lead ammunition.
23 Feb 2010
Location: USA, Arizona - Map It
and Utah - Map It>>> FULL ARTICLE
Huge number of manatees gather in Lee CountyAlmost 900 manatees have turned the Orange River into a cold-water marine-mammal traffic jam. At the same time, manatees continue to die from cold stress throughout the state.
Last week, John Reynolds, director of Mote Marine Laboratory’s Manatee Research Program, conducted an aerial survey of power plants and other warm-water areas across the state.
His total count was 2,842 manatees, 909 of which were in Lee County — 897 in the Florida Power & Light warm-water discharge on the Orange River and 12 at Matlacha Isles.
21 Feb 2010
K Lollar
Photo courtesy of new-press.com
Location: Florida, USA
OTHER WILDLIFE HEALTH RELATED NEWS
Photo courtesy of BBC News
Rabies, bovine, equine, vampire bat [Argentina, Caraguatay- Map It
and Montecarlo - Map It
- K-State Earns $12 Million Animal Disease Center Of Excellence
- Diesel spill threatens Isle of Man wildlife [Isle of Man - Map It
- Healing the Great Lakes
- Much at stake as grouse endangered finding nears
- Sam D. Hamilton, Wildlife Service Director, Is Dead at 54
- Killing in the Name of Conservation [wildlife management for non-native species] [cited article here]
- Bird is the Word [multi-national bird count]
- Rising carbon snuffs coral
- Climate Change and Coral Reefs: Coral Species Has Developed the 'Skills' to Cope With Rising Temperatures
WILDLIFE HEALTH RELATED PUBLICATIONS
Browse complete Digest publication library here.
Highly Pathogenic H5N1 Avian Influenza Virus Induces Extracellular Ca2+ Influx, Leading to Apoptosis in Avian CellsJ Virol. 2010 Jan 6. [Epub ahead of print]
M Ueda et al.
Economic cost analysis of West Nile virus outbreak, Sacramento County, California, USA, 2005 [free full-text available]
Emerg Infect Dis. 2010 March; [Epub ahead of print]
LM Barber et al.
Bayesian Networks and Adaptive Management of Wildlife Habitat
Conservation Biology. 2010; [Epub ahead of print]
AL Howes et al.
Enzootic Plague Reduces Black-Footed Ferret (Mustela nigripes) Survival in Montana
Vector Borne Zoonotic Dis. 2010 January/February;10(1):27-35.
MR Matchett et al.
Consumption of Baits Containing Raccoon Pox-Based Plague Vaccines Protects Black-Tailed Prairie Dogs (Cynomys ludovicianus)
Vector Borne Zoonotic Dis. 2010 January/February;10(1):53-58.
TE Rocke et al.
