Today in the spotlight is a highly informative report from the USGS National Wildlife Health Center (NWHC).

It provides a concise summary of wildlife disease investigations and research activities:

• Field Investigation Team Summaries: September 2008 to June 2009
• Research progress on white-nose syndrome of bats
• Oral vaccination of prairie dogs against plague via ingestion of vaccine-laden baits
• H5N1 Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza
• Modeling the Dynamics of Avian Influenza in Wild Birds and Potential Transmission with Domestic Fowl
• Experimental Infection of American Kestrels with H5N1 Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza
• Experimental Infection of Dunlin with H5N1 Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza
• Chronic Wasting Disease (CWD) Research

To get the report click here.

Officials from the New Orleans based humane organization, The Humane Society of Louisiana, recently visited Tickfaw State Park, located in Springfield, Louisiana, to present the group's coveted Golden Heart Awards to Dr. Stuart Johnson, Assistant Secretary of the Office of Louisiana State Parks, and Mary Ginn, Director of Human Resources with the Louisiana Department of Natural Resources. 

Dr. Johnson and Ms. Ginn were part of an ad hoc committee which recently rewrote the policies that govern the treatment and handling of wildlife and domestic animals throughout the Louisiana park system.  The new policies ensure that all injured wildlife be captured and treated humanely and turned over to a licensed wildlife rehabilitator and/or released in the wild.  Domesticated animals, such as dogs and cats, will be transported to the nearest animal control agency and/or humane organization.

Hungry orphan songbirds. Owls and hawks with broken wings. Squirrels in nests that fell during stormy weather. Homeless young opossums and raccoons.

All these animals found refuge recently at the Willowbrook Wildlife Center in suburban Chicago. Any of them could have shown up at a local veterinary clinic.

Practitioners should note that laws and regulations govern the possession and rehabilitation of wildlife. The rules differ from state to state and species to species. Legally, a practitioner usually can stabilize a wild animal before locating a rehabilitator or rehabilitation center with the appropriate permits to care for the animal.

But handling wildlife is challenging, even for brief periods. Practitioners can turn to government authorities, wildlife veterinarians, and rehabilitators for guidance on legalities and other considerations.

“Last year, annual surveys conducted by the Audubon Society documented the alarming decline in populations of common birds, which have plummeted 70 percent on average since 1967,” Secretary of the Interior Dirk Kempthorne said.  “That specter reminds me that more than 50 years ago, a former U.S. Fish and Wildlife biologist named Rachel Carson wrote about a ‘Silent Spring’ without wild birds singing in the trees.  Today, we are bolstering the struggle to ensure that we will never have a Silent Spring.”

•  The National Wildlife Health Center has released an updated Avian Influenza Surveillance of Wild Birds" fact sheet that should be of interest to all Wildlife Rehabilitators. It is available for viewing by clicking here (PDF File).
• The National Wildlife Health Center has updated its "Safety Guidelines For Handling Wild Birds" that employees follow. Wildlife Rehabilitators can view the new guidelines by clicking here (PDF File).

Excessive nutrients have resulted in a zone of low dissolved oxygen or hypoxia, caused by the growth of large amounts of algae. This can stress and cause death in bottom-dwelling organisms in the Gulf.

Illinois, Iowa, Indiana, Missouri, Arkansas, Kentucky, Tennessee, Ohio and Mississippi make up only one-third of the 31-state Mississippi River drainage area, but contribute more than 75 percent of nitrogen and phosphorus to the Gulf.

Corn and soybean cultivation is the largest contributor of nitrogen to the Gulf. Animal manure on pasture and rangelands and crop cultivation are the largest contributors of phosphorus.

LISTEN TO THE PODCAST: Download directly | Details | (From USGS)

Benjamin Tuggle, USFWS Southwest Regional Director (right), and David Frink, Director of Corporate Affairs for Dell Inc. (left), plant one of nearly 50,000 trees at Trinity River National Wildlife Refuge

U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Southwest Regional Director, Benjamin Tuggle joined representatives from Dell, Travelocity, The Conservation Fund, and Environmental Synergy, Inc. to announce the restoration of 158 acres of forestland that will address climate change, restore sensitive wildlife habitat, and enhance public recreation areas at Trinity River National Wildlife Refuge in East Texas.  Private support for the initiative was made possible via a combination of customer and corporate donations from Dell, Travelocity, Universal Studios, and NBC Universal, as well as individual donors to The Conservation Fund’s Go ZeroSM program.  The 48,000 newly planted trees are anticipated to trap more than 63,000 tons of carbon dioxide – a potent greenhouse gas – over their lifetime.

On November 9, 2007, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service released for public comment a Draft Environmental Assessment and Management Plan that proposes to allow the limited removal and possession of migrant first-year “Northern” (predominantly Arctic subspecies) peregrine falcons from the wild for use in falconry. The falcons could be captured in areas and at times where their removal would have no significant impact on the population.