Here’s what determines if a problematic wild animal is saveable or cullable.
Avian influenza (‘bird flu’) is a highly transmissible and usually mild disease that affects wild birds such as geese, swans, seagulls, shorebirds, and also domestic birds such as chickens and turkeys.
(CDC and NIAID)
Clement Meseko, National Veterinary Research Institute, Vom, Jos
Bird flu has been recurring in Africa since 2006 and Nigeria is heavily affected. High-level biosecurity measures are required to keep people and animals safe.
Red squirrels have little immunity to squirrelpox virus spread by grey squirrels.
Hugh Rowlands
There is no single, straightforward way to safeguard the future of this native mammal at the moment – but here are some options
The strain of H5N1 bird flu identified in Canada, the United States and Europe can cause severe disease and high mortality in domestic poultry.
(AP Photo/Robert F. Bukaty)
Avian influenza virus — or bird flu — can infect domestic poultry such as chickens and turkeys, as well as wild birds. The H5N1 strain has been identified in Canada.
The NSW government has announced plans to remove feral deer from its list of official game animals. With careful monitoring, the resulting free-for-all could help curb their booming numbers.
The plan to kill 2 million feral cats nationwide by 2020 makes for good headlines. But it’s also a simplistic goal that won’t necessarily deliver conservation benefits to native species.
The return of white sharks to Cape Cod, Massachusetts was a tourism success story – until a shark killed a swimmer. Can the Cape’s residents and visitors learn to share the ocean with these apex predators?
Wedge-tailed eagles have been found poisoned in East Gippsland.
Simon Cherriman