Wildlife disease specialists with the California Department of Fish and Wildlife (CDFW) recently received confirmation that an adult bobcat died from the Eurasian strain of highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) H5N1. This is the first detection of the virus in a wild mammal in the state.Notwithstanding this detection, infection of wild mammals with avian influenza viruses appears to be relatively rare.
The virus was first reported among brown skua on Bird Island, off South Georgia. Since then, researchers and observers have reported mass deaths of elephant seals, as well as increased deaths of fur seals, kelp gulls and brown skua at several other sites. Researchers warn of one of ‘largest ecological disasters of modern times’ if the highly contagious disease reaches penguin colonies.
Avian flu has decimated the marine creatures on the country’s Pacific coastline and scientists fear it could be jumping from mammal to mammal
It’s only the second time in history that the ocean salmon fishery has been closed in California, and the decision reflects a major decline in fish populations after the state’s driest three-year period on record.
A pod of about 45 false killer whales and bottlenose dolphins stranded on Sunday afternoon at Taylor’s Bay on Mahia Peninsula.The Department of Conservation is warning water-goers to be cautious near Mahia peninsula as the remains of stranded whales and dolphins may attract sharks.
Reports are coming in about hundreds of dead birds from Hammerfest in the west to Murmansk in the east. A zone with a radius of five kilometers is closed and guards are in place round-the-clock.
A moose that was killed in Teller last week had been infected with rabies, the Alaska Department of Fish and Game confirmed.
After experiencing an unprecedented closure of subsistence salmon fishing, the Port Clarence district, including Teller and Brevig Mission, is now open for fishing.
Stanley, Falkland Islands, establishes a temporary control zone following the confirmation of its first avian flu case.
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