The Food Authority noted that it might be possible that foxes are more susceptible to avian flu infections than mink. However, the agency also suggested that infection prevention protocols may not have worked as well at fox farms compared to facilities that raise mink. The authority has now confirmed avian influenza cases at a total of 42 fur farms in Finland.
The exact virus type is still being determined, but measures are being taken to protect workers and prevent transmission to humans.
An elk was spotted swimming to the island of Utö in the Finnish archipelago, marking the first sighting of the animal in 40 years.
Some 1,600 bats found a temporary home this week in the attic of a Houston Humane Society director, but it wasn’t because they made it their roost. It was a temporary recovery space for the flying mammals after they lost their grip and plunged to the pavement after going into hypothermic shock during the city’s recent cold snap .
Since November, six foxes and three dogs in Nunavut have been found to be infected with rabies. Wednesday’s fox attack brings the total to seven foxes and five dogs with likely rabies infections.
She was then driven immediately to the hospital, where she got treatment for a potential rabies infection. Over the past month, there has been an increase in fox sightings and cases of rabies in foxes in the communities of Igloolik and Iqaluit. A fox was confirmed to have rabies in Igloolik on Dec. 14, while two foxes have been reported to have rabies in Iqaluit over the past five weeks.
Because of the risk to public safety, efforts will be made to locate this group of river otters and remove them, Fish and Game said.
While Northwest Arctic residents encounter bears year-round, such sightings are not common in Kotzebue this time of year, Cantine said. Charlie Henry Jr., an Elder from Kotzebue, agreed: “That is so strange — brown bear in the middle part of the coldest months.”
Highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) A(H5N1) is a strain of the avian influenza virus that primarily affects birds, particularly poultry. It has been detected in farmed mink.
A total of 94 brown bears, five black bears and five wolves were killed in the program that began May 10 and ended June 4, the Alaska Department of Fish and Game said this week. That’s more than four times the number biologists predicted would be taken. State biologists also say disease and changing food supplies might be a bigger factor overall.
The past few decades have been the most significant for the damage the mice have caused, said Dr. Anton Wolfaardt, the Mouse-Free Marion project manager. He said their numbers have increased hugely, mainly due to rising temperatures from climate change, which has turned a cold, windswept island into a warmer, drier, more hospitable home.
One of the most destructive and rapidly spreading invasive species on the continent has been found for the first time in a Canadian national park.
“Right now the people who have dogs in their yards are very concerned. This is happening at night when it’s dark, so everybody is on edge.” - Tanana First Chief
“The fact that an otter attacked a person was certainly surprising,” said a wildlife biologist with Fish and Game, who added that it’s hard to know what the motivation behind the otter’s “unusual behavior” was.
A Houston man was injured by a moose near his home, an unusual event linked to increased moose aggression due to harsh winter conditions.
The man suffered four scratches to the top of his head and near his right ear, and declined medical assistance.
The Ministry of Health confirms the occurrence of three deaths from Rocky Mountain spotted fever (RMSF) in Campinas/São Paulo, referring to an outbreak in the municipality.
Three young dogs were euthanized this week after testing positive for parvovirus, an Anchorage Animal Care and Control official said.
Biologists struggle to single out a leading cause of the caribou population’s decline. Increased wolf predation, changed migration patterns and climate warming affecting food sources can all influence the herd. “It’s going to be another rough winter again this year without caribou,” Selawik resident Norma Ballot said.
The Western Arctic Caribou Herd has been declining for years, and the migration patterns of the animals have been changing. In several locations in Northwest Alaska, caribou have been arriving later and later in the season. Friday last week, people in Kotzebue finally started seeing caribou — hundreds of them ― crossing the Kotzebue Sound north of town, coming from the Noatak riverside. Ice conditions are one of the reasons for the caribou’s late migration, said Thomas Baker, chair of the Northwest Arctic Subsistence Regional Advisory Council.
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