Wildlife News Roundup (July 6-12, 2013) | The Wildlife Society News

More than 150 people were recently arrested for the illegal online sale of leopard and other animal pelts, ivory, and live birds.? (Credit: Patrick Giraud/Wikimedia Commons)

More Than 150 Accused in Online Wildlife Sales
(The Associated Press via Miami Herald)
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service announced the arrests of more than 150 people who will be charged with online wildlife trafficking operations involving tiger, leopard and jaguar pelts, elephant ivory and live birds. ?Operation Wild Web? culminated with the seizure of items including the pelts of endangered big cats such as the Sumatran tiger, leopard and jaguar; live migratory birds such as the California scrub jay; whale teeth; elephant and walrus ivory; and a zebra pelt. endangered Gulf Coast ecosystem. More

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NEWS FROM NORTH AMERICA

State of the Birds 2013 Report Released
(The Wildlife Society)
Last week, Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack and Secretary of the Interior Sally Jewell announced the release of The State of the Birds 2013: Report on Private Lands, United States of America. This is the fourth State of the Birds report, and it focuses on the importance of the 60 percent of U.S. land area that is privately held. Using several spatial programs and the Cornell Lab of Ornithology?s citizen-science program e-bird, 1.5 million bird checklists from more than 220,000 unique locations were used to determine distributions of 219 breeding and 65 wintering bird species. More

Portland, Ore., Tanker Spill Killed Fish in Creek
(KGW-TV)
A tanker truck crash in Portland, Ore., contaminated a creek with about 2,000 gallons of liquid fertilizer, killing about 80 native cutthroat trout. Some 1,000 fish and marine creatures within a half-mile of the crash scene have died, according to Tom Murtagh, a fish biologist with the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife. More

Forestry Catches Break from Endangered Species Act
(Northern Ontario Business)
The Ontario government has introduced more industry-friendly rules coming from the Ministry of Natural Resources to ?simplify? and ?streamline? provincial protection for species at risk. The MNR announced that it will ?harmonize? the Crown Forest Sustainability Act and the Endangered Species Act to cut bureaucratic red tape and avoid duplication. Forestry operations will be exempt from the ESA and held to the provisions of the Crown Forest Sustainability Act for five years. More

Minnesota Wolf Population Falls; Lower Quota Planned
(The Associated Press via Faribault County Register)
Wildlife officials announced that Minnesota?s midwinter wolf population has fallen by about 710 animals over the past five years to around 2,211. They attribute the decline to fewer deer for wolves to prey upon and the resumption of sport hunting and trapping of wolves last fall. Officials in the Department of Natural Resources stressed that wolves are resilient and that the decline is no reason to fear for the survival of wolves in Minnesota. More

Study: Gulf Wildlife a Wildly Popular and Profitable Tourism Draw
(Gulf Coast News Today)
The coastal environment of the Gulf of Mexico supports a $19 billion annual wildlife tourism industry that is highly dependent on critical investments in coastal environmental restoration, according to a survey released this week by Datu Research LLC. The study titled ?Wildlife Tourism and the Gulf Coast Economy? concludes that wildlife tourism is extremely valuable to the Gulf Coast economy and relies heavily on the health of the endangered Gulf Coast ecosystem. More

Export-Driven Fur Boom Lines Pockets of Alberta Trappers
(Edmonton Journal)
Gordy Klassen likes to say he put his daughter through university with fur. It?s been a good business over the years for the 55-year-old trapper, and getting even better as the fur industry is experiencing a boom most notable in the last two years. Much of it is driven by demand from China, but a new generation of young people and top fashion designers are also embracing fur, bringing in shorter, sportier coats that go as well with jeans as opera gowns, and flirty accessories. More

Behold the Pudu: The World?s Smallest Deer
(Time)
Love miniature animals? Now you can add one to your list of adorable: the endangered southern pudu, which is the world?s smallest deer. A female pudu, otherwise known as a doe, was born on Monday at the Queens Zoo, weighing only one pound. It was the first pudu ever born at the zoo, which also shelters the doe?s parents. Regular adult deer generally weigh between 70 and 700 pounds, but this doe won?t exceed 20 pounds once it is full grown. More

WILDLIFE HEALTH AND DISEASE NEWS

Bobcats Face Deadly Diseases, Weakened Immune Systems from Exposure to Household Rat Poison
(San Gabriel Valley Tribune)
Caught between the green lawns and the brown hills of Southern California is the North American bobcat, Lynx rufus. While not technically endangered, scientists as recently as June have watched healthy bobcats die of severe mange, a common skin disease caused by parasitic mites normally afflicting canines. Local scientists believe the tuft-eared wildcats are being poisoned by eating gophers or ground squirrels that have ingested rat poison left in yards by homeowners or near dams and other government structures. More

Potential Hot Spot for Avian Flu Transmission Identified in Western Alaska
(U.S. Geological Survey)
Low-pathogenic avian influenza viruses with Eurasian genes have been found among birds in the Yukon-Kuskokwim Delta of western Alaska, supporting the theory that the area is a potential point of entry for foreign animal diseases such as the more highly pathogenic H5N1 strain, according to a new study by U.S. Geological Survey scientists. The Yukon-Kuskokwim Delta is an important breeding ground for many bird species and is located where multiple migratory flyways converge, providing opportunities for avian pathogens to spread. More

INTERNATIONAL NEWS

Indus River Dolphin Calves Successfully Rescued in Eastern Pakistan
(WWF)
A joint team of WWF-Pakistan and the Sindh Wildlife Department recently rescued two stray Indus River dolphin calves caught in a canal in eastern Pakistan. The calves, a male and female, were stranded in the Dehar Wah canal for two hours before the successful rescue saw them released 80 km downstream. Joint rescue teams from WWF-Pakistan and the Sindh Wildlife Department regularly carry out these operations. More

Greece Jellyfish Warning for U.K. Tourists
(BBC)
The U.K. Foreign Office has updated its travel advice for Greece, warning that jellyfish blooms have been reported and for people to heed local advice. Officials have already issued warnings about jellyfish in Mediterranean coastal waters for France and Italy. But local marine biologists said this year?s increase was ?no different? from other years and that the blooms consisted of non-stinging species. More

Source: http://news.wildlife.org/featured/wildlife-news-roundup-july-6-12-2013/

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