By Daniella Silva, NBC News
State wildlife officials announced Tuesday that a rare seasonal outbreak of West Nile virus is to blame for the recent spike in deaths of iconic bald eagles across northern Utah.
The Utah Division of Wildlife Resources said in a report that laboratory results confirmed that the virus was responsible for the deaths of 27 bald eagles over the past few weeks. Continue reading
Sharpshooters help keep deer disease in check
By Paul A. Smith of the Journal Sentinel
Nov. 6, 2013
Efforts in Illinois to control the prevalence of chronic wasting disease in wild deer have succeeded while rates of the disease have soared in Wisconsin, according to a study by veterinary researchers.
The difference: Targeted sharpshooting in Illinois areas with CWD-positive deer. Continue reading
By Dan Egan of the Journal Sentinel
Nov. 5, 2013
For the first time, Asian carp DNA has turned up in Wisconsin’s Lake Michigan waters, the state Department of Natural Resources reported Tuesday.
The single positive water sample for the jumping silver carp was taken May 31 in Sturgeon Bay near Door County’s Potawatomi State Park. Continue reading
By: Curtis Rush News reporter, Published on Wed Oct 16 2013, Mystar
Moose populations are thinning out in certain parts of Ontario, mirroring a disturbing pattern across other parts of North America. Why the numbers are dropping in certain areas — while they are climbing in others — isn’t known. Continue reading
September 28, 2013 5:15 am • RON SEELY | Wisconsin Center for Investigative Journalism
Prions — the infectious, deformed proteins that cause chronic wasting disease in deer — can be taken up by plants such as alfalfa, corn and tomatoes, according to new research from the National Wildlife Health Center in Madison.
The research further demonstrated that stems and leaves from tainted plants were infectious when injected into laboratory mice.
The findings are significant, according to the researchers and other experts, because they reveal a previously unknown potential route of exposure to prions for a Wisconsin deer herd in which the fatal brain illness continues to spread. The disease has also become a pressing problem nationwide: The national Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has identified the deer disease in 17 states and predicts it will spread to other states. Continue reading
