Wildlife News Roundup (March 30-April 5, 2013) | The Wildlife ...

A California sea lion (Zalophus californianus) (Credit: Aaron Logan/LIGHTmatter Photography)

?Unusual Mortality Event? is Declared for the California Sea Lion
(Los Angeles Times)
For months, the sea lion pups ? not even a year old ? have been washing up on Southern California beaches at an alarming rate. They were stranded, severely underweight, bones poking through their slick dark fur. They were clinging to life, many of them with ailments far beyond malnutrition. The strandings, which began spiking in January, have intensified in recent weeks, packing marine mammal centers, perplexing researchers and prompting federal wildlife officials to act. More

NEWS FROM NORTH AMERICA

Salazar to Leave Interior with no Regrets
(The Washington Post)
The walls of Interior Secretary Ken Salazar?s office are nearly bare now: He has packed up his photos and most of his books, so only a few paintings remain. But tucked inside a desk drawer is an artifact from his more than four years in office: a small vial of oil recovered on July 14, 2010, from the BP oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico. ?I?m not sure if I?ll take it,? Salazar confessed, though he said the federal reforms and restoration funding stemming from the disaster have left the country better off. More

Bill to Restrict Federal Ownership of Wildlife Habitat Advances
(Omaha World-Herald)
The Nebraska Legislature advanced a bill that could make it harder for wildlife groups to give habitat land to the federal government. Lawmakers voted 27-17 to send Legislative Bill 57 to second-round consideration. State Sen. Tyson Larson, sponsor of the bill, first had to rally 34 votes to cut off debate. The bill would require conservation groups that buy land with grants from the Nebraska Environmental Trust to get trust approval before transferring the land to the federal government. More

Coyote Control Program Proves Popular in North Dakota
(The Associated Press via WDAY-TV)
A new state-sponsored program in North Dakota that helps connect landowners plagued by coyotes with hunters and trappers who can eliminate the pesky predators has proven popular, but some conservation groups say it is misguided. The Coyote Catalog online database is a collaborative effort between the state Game and Fish Department and state Agriculture Department, and allows landowners to apply online to receive contact information for hunters and trappers, who also have registered. More

Poaching More Likely in Wake of Cuts, Say Wildlife Advocates
(CBC)
Newfoundland and Labrador?s latest budget will mean fewer conservation officers patrolling woods and streams, advocates warn, noting that poachers will have an easier time after the jobs are cut. NAPE president Carol Furlong said she feared that cuts to wildlife staff will also mean the elimination of a program brought in to protect salmon stocks. ?A lot of these people were brought in as part of a program when the former Premier Danny Williams was in office,? Furlong told CBC News. More

Blanding?s Turtles Threatened with Extinction in Ottawa
(Kanata EMC)
A study on the endangered Blanding?s turtles in Ottawa?s South March Highlands has found the species is at risk of local extinction. Current and past developments pose an ?immediate threat on the already at-risk animal,? said the report, completed by Dillon Consulting Limited, contracted by the City of Ottawa. The South March Highlands Blanding?s Turtle Conservation Needs Assessment looked at the current population and stressors and concluded the South March Highlands population is ?at high risk of decline and eventual extirpation.? More

Nature?s Drone, Pretty and Deadly
(The New York Times)
African lions roar and strut and act the apex carnivore, but they?re lucky to catch 25 percent of the prey they pursue. Great white sharks have 300 slashing teeth and that ominous soundtrack, and still nearly half their hunts fail. Dragonflies, by contrast, look dainty, glittery and fun, like a bubble bath or costume jewelry, and they?re often grouped with butterflies and ladybugs on the very short list of Insects People Like. Yet they are also voracious aerial predators, and new research suggests they may well be the most brutally effective hunters in the animal kingdom. More

WILDLIFE HEALTH AND DISEASE NEWS

Bird Flu Death Toll Rises to Six in China
(The Washington Post)
The death toll from a new strain of bird flu rose to six in China as scientists at the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and around the world stepped up efforts to determine its pandemic risk. This is the first time the H7N9 virus has been detected in humans, but there is no evidence that the strain is transmitted from human to human, officials said. At least 14 people in China have been confirmed to have H7N9, all in the eastern part of the country. More

Manatee Death Toll Rises in Florida Even as Toxic Algae Ebbs
(Reuters via Hartford Courant)
A deadly algae bloom that killed a record number of manatees has dissipated, though the death toll for the endangered sea mammals continues to rise, Florida wildlife officials said. Red Tide has killed 241 manatees this year, said Kevin Baxter, spokesman for the Florida Fish and Wildlife Research Institute in St. Petersburg, Fla. The figure already surpasses the highest number of Red Tide manatee deaths on record in Florida ? 151 in 1996. More

Swan Deaths in Great Lakes Linked to Lower Water Levels
(Waterloo Record)
The deaths of two trumpeter swans of lead poisoning in Canada?s Georgian Bay area this year is raising questions about the environmental impact of decreasing water levels in the Great Lakes. The swans, once feared extinct in Ontario, eat aquatic vegetation in the wild or are fed corn by humans. To help them digest their food, the birds swallow stones and pebbles. But the swans may also swallow fishing weights or lead shotgun pellets, thinking they are stones and pebbles. The ingested lead slowly poisons them until they die. More

INTERNATIONAL NEWS

Study: Big Cats Living in Urbanized Areas in India
(Science World Report)
A recent finding from the Wildlife Conservation Society claims that five large carnivores, including leopards and striped hyenas, are living in a human-dominated landscape, according to a news release. This study was led by WCS-India scientist Vidya Athreaya. It was conducted in Western Maharashtra, India. By using camera traps, researchers noticed that the big cats roamed to human populated-areas and have managed to stay unnoticeable by the public. More

UK Government ?Acting Too Slowly? on Marine Conservation
(The Telegraph)
Environmentalists have accused the United Kingdom?s government of being too slow to protect marine wildlife and waterways. They are worried about the rate of progress on the development of a network of marine conservation zones which would safeguard wildlife in waters around the country, the BBC said. A total of 127 areas were nominated for protection following a deal with others who use the sea, such as the fishing and sailing industries. More

Source: http://news.wildlife.org/featured/wildlife-news-roundup-march-30-april-5-2013/

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