Strange/Rare Fauna Reports
Strange/Rare Fauna Reports
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HELEN BRANSWELL
Wednesday, November 30, 2005
Canadian Press
A team of scientists may have cracked the mystery of the reservoir or source of the deadly Ebola virus, finding evidence of the virus in three species of fruit bats in Gabon and the Republic of Congo.
While they say their work isn't proof positive that these bats are the sole reservoir of Ebola, they believe their findings "strongly suggest" these bats are one source of the virus.
"We can not exclude that other species of bats might also be a reservoir," lead author Eric Leroy said in an e-mail Wednesday from Gabon, where he is based at the Centre International de Recherches M?dicales de Franceville.
Fruit bats are eaten by humans in the areas where Dr. Leroy's team studied, suggesting a possible mode of transmission of the virus. The paper says educating people about the risk of eating bats may help reduce future outbreaks in humans.
Dr. Karl Johnson, co-discoverer of the virus, said he never thought it would take 30 years to find the source of Ebola when he flew to Northwestern Zaire in 1976 to investigate a mystery virus that had wiped out an entire hospital.
It was the first reported outbreak of what Dr. Johnson, who was then with the U.S. Centers for Disease Control in Atlanta, named Ebola virus after the river that flowed near the hospital.
While stressing these finding aren't a slam-dunk, Dr. Johnson nonetheless called the work the closest yet to defining the natural host of the Ebola virus, which randomly jumps into populations of great apes or humans with devastating consequences.
"It's the hottest thing ever in terms of pointing a direction," he said in an interview. "I think it's definitely worth major league follow up."
The team, from institutes in Gabon, Paris, Sandringham, South Africa and Thailand, reported their work in this week's issue of the journal Nature.
Following outbreaks of Ebola in humans and in apes in Gabon and the Republic of Congo between 2001 and 2003, the researchers set out to try to find the source of the virus.
They trapped 1,030 animal - including 679 bats, 222 birds and 129 small vertebrates - looking for evidence of Ebola.
Other teams, including one led by veteran U.S. virologist Dr. C.J. Peters, have done similar work over the years, but have failed to find any trace of the virus.
This team found antibodies to the Ebola virus in blood drawn from three species of bats. As well, fragments of virus were found in some of the bats using PCR or polymerase chain reaction testing.
That combination is considered strong evidence. But the ultimate proof eluded the group.
"The definitive conclusion is the isolation of the virus. We did not get it," Dr. Leroy said.
Dr. Peters, co-author and subject of the bestseller Virus Hunter and now director of the Center for Biodefense and Emerging Infectious Diseases at the University of Texas Medical Branch in Galveston, found the work persuasive.
"In the part of my brain that says 'These are things that I wonder about and these are things I believe,' I now believe that fruit-eating bats have been found to be infected with Ebola virus," he said in an interview.
"And I believe if I were going out there to look for the reservoir . . . I know where I would go. I'd go to where the fruit-eating bats live and I would follow them around and find out what they do."
Dr. Peters said more work needs to be done to determine whether these bats are getting the virus from something or somewhere else. He quickly added Dr. Leroy's team is probably already doing that work.
"I'll bet you that right now, they're . . . out there wherever these bats roost finding out what else is in that roost and catching it and studying it."
Dr. Johnson said as well that it is time to try to do experimental work in laboratories with these species of bats to test out the theory.
Dr. Peters said these findings should provide strong leads for the pursuit of the source of virus responsible for Marburg fever, another of the hemorrhagic fevers. Marburg, like Ebola, is caused by a filovirus.
"Certainly you'd go looking for Marburg in bats," he said.
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20051130.wbatz1130/BNStory/specialScienceandHealth/
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Animal moved to facility in Punta Gorda
Monique Green
December 10, 2005
State wildlife investigators captured a six-point red deer nearly three weeks after it gored a miniature horse named Rowdy in North Fort Myers.
The 270-pound animal was found about 6:30 p.m. Thursday, a few yards away from the house on Quail Hollow Road where neighbors said the residents kept it as a pet, said Leonard Barshinger, an investigator with the Florida Fish and Wildlife Commission.
The exotic buck, which originated in Europe and is not indigenous to the area, was tranquilized and moved to a permitted location in Punta Gorda, Barshinger said. The owner of the facility where the deer was taken asked that it not be identified, but FWC spokesman Gary Morse said the deer was in a safe environment among other deer.
But the horse's owner, Catherine Searle, thinks the deer still is roaming the community.
"I don't believe that it's captured. (Barshinger) said he would personally tell me," she said. "I won't believe it."
Searle said she saw the deer in the neighborhood as recently as Thursday afternoon.
Barshinger insists the culprit has been caught. "It is a red deer. It is the same one that was there on Quail Hollow Road," he said.
Searle said the nightmare of watching the animal that slaughtered Rowdy, her pet horse, strut past her yard for the past few weeks could have been avoided.
The FWC officials said there was nothing more they could have done.
"Capturing animals is not a science," Morse said. "Animal movement and behavior can be unpredictable at times. We're in a large area trying to intercept and figure out where it's going to be. It can be an educated guess at best."
The tangled tale began early Saturday, Nov. 19, when the deer jumped Searle's fence and ultimately killed the 4-year-old horse. The deer was in rut, Barshinger said, and the animal could have been trying to mate with the horse.
Searle has said her 3-foot-tall miniature horse was smaller than the deer she estimated to be about the size of a standard horse.
As odd as the events may sound, Morse said, the FWC gets at least a dozen calls a day for similar situations. But these animal encounters are avoidable, he said.
"Feeding animal wildlife is the No. 1 cause of nuisance behavior in animals," he said. "We made two alligator feeding cases late this summer. Those are rare cases to make. You actually have to see the people doing it."
Morse thinks the trouble began when Troy and Tracy Cummings, the couple Searle said owns the buck, began feeding it. The Cummings denied ownership of the animal in an interview with The News-Press in November. They could not be reached for comment Friday.
The FWC cited the couple in November for not having the proper caging and permits to house the exotic animal. Morse said the commission had information that the Cummings fed the animal.
While people may have good intentions for feeding wild animals, Morse said the outcome is often negative. In Rowdy's case, it was fatal.
"The unfortunate thing is that animals don't understand kindness," he said. "The only thing they understand is eat, sleep and reproduce. As a result, it ends up becoming a nuisance."
http://www.news-press.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20051210/NEWS01/512100484/1075
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Oct 23, 2005
Blanche S. Rivera
Inquirer News Service
Editor's Note: Published on page A1 of the October 23, 2005 issue of the
Philippine Daily Inquirer
IT'S back to the wilds for the tamaraw.
Experts are seriously considering "closing" the gene pool of tamaraws in
Occidental Mindoro. Recent surveys showed that the species, a descendant of the
cow, deer and carabao found only in the Philippines, might be better off left in
the mountains.
The tamaraw (bubalus mindorensis) was nearly wiped out by an epidemic in the
1930s, and then further depleted by the hunt for trade and trophies. It was
listed by the World Conservation Union as one of the most threatened mammals on
earth. The government has protected the endangered species for the past three
decades and established a gene pool.
The tamaraws are endemic to Mindoro and have been breeding well in the wild, the
Protected Areas and Wildlife Bureau reported.
In contrast, out of the original 10 tamaraws captured for the gene pool, only
two have survived-Mimi and her calf Kalibasib.
"This is the first time we're going to evaluate if we still need the gene pool.
If they're breeding in the wild, then we may not need to capture them for
preservation," PAWB director Mundita Lim told the Inquirer.
At least 269 tamaraws, many of them juvenile, were sighted on Mt. Iglit alone.
They have also made their homes on Mt. Baco, Mt. Halcon and Mt. Calavite.
While the population is still critically small and insufficient to get the
tamaraw off the country's list of endangered species, the 269 sightings are an
improvement over the 100-head count in the past decade.
If the gene pool is closed, Mimi and Kalibasib will not be released to the wild,
according to Lim.
No to cloning
The increased population has also reinforced the PAWB's decision not to subject
the tamaraw to cloning as proposed by the Philippine Carabao Center (PCC), the
first such proposal aimed at preserving the country's endangered wildlife.
The PCC had wanted to clone the tamaraws in the gene pool but the Department of
Environment and Natural Resources rejected the proposal, saying that cloning
would reduce the genetic diversity of the species.
"It's not ethical because we still have enough tamaraws in the wild. If there
were, say, only two or three of the species left, then cloning could be viable,"
Lim said.
The tamaraws, noted for their fierceness and determination to attack their
enemies even when they are wounded, nearly failed to survive one enemy in the
1930s-the rinderpest, a highly fatal viral disease affecting domestic cattle,
buffalo and yaks.
Gene pool
From an estimated population of 10,000 in the wild, the tamaraws had been
reduced to only about 150 in the 1970s, prompting the government to establish a
gene pool.
Ten unrelated tamaraws were captured in the wild, placed in an enclosed area in
Rizal, Occidental Mindoro, and allowed to breed.
After almost 30 years, however, the gene pool produced only one offspring,
five-year-old Kalibasib, short for Kalikasang Bagong Sibol. Today, only
Kalibasib and its mother, Mimi, are left in the gene pool.
"Not only did they not mate, most of the tamaraws (in the gene pool) died of
natural causes... The problem probably is that they were treated much like
carabaos," Environment Undersecretary Armando de Castro, who oversees the
government's wildlife preservation program, said in an earlier interview.
The gene pool had been under the supervision of the PCC and was transferred to
the DENR only four years ago.
Tamaraw month
Lim said the PAWB would start consultations this month with the local
government, communities and other stakeholders on the necessity of keeping a
tamaraw gene pool. October was declared Tamaraw Month in 2002.
Alongside the festivities for Tamaraw Month in Mindoro, Lim said she expects to
get the sentiments of the Mindore?os, who are proud of their unique species.
"The people in Mindoro are very aware of the conservation efforts for the
tamaraw, and they are actively helping the government," Lim said, adding that
the residents themselves have tried to keep hunters away.
Turning down offers
She said the communities had also refused to create a conservation area outside
the island even in exchange for foreign funding for the country's wildlife
conservation programs.
A zoo in the United Kingdom had expressed interest in importing the tamaraw for
education and conservation purposes, with the condition that the Philippines
could retrieve the animals anytime after they had bred.
This was also turned down by the Mindore?os.
"They're very possessive of the tamaraws; they also (want) to protect them," Lim
said, adding that the communities' ability to keep the tamaraws safe in
Mindoro's mountains could be the key to their survival for the next hundred
years-with or without the gene pool.
http://news.inq7.net/nation/index.php?index=1&story_id=54210
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LAURA RICO
Sentinel-Standard writer
Thursday, October 20, 2005
PORTLAND ? For several years, Portland residents Renee Sandborn and her husband
have heard odd animal noises around their property ? from what they thought was
a coyote.
But after a frighteningly close encounter with the mystery animal last month,
Sandborn is convinced it isn?t a coyote. She thinks it may be an exotic Black
Leopard.
About three weeks ago, Sandborn and her 13-year-old daughter were riding their
horses at dusk behind on the property behind TRW Commercial Steering Systems,
located on Lyons Road in Portland, when they noticed several deer. Sandborn said
she and her daughter followed the deer for a while, hoping to count their
points.
?Then we saw this animal, crouching, watching the deer,? she said. ?It was
black, with a long tail and white paws. It was about the size of my Labrador,
which is about 135 pounds, but it walked like a cat.?
She and her daughter watched the animal for a short time, and Sandborn asked her
daughter if she thought the beast looked larger than a normal. Her daughter
agreed it was much larger than a domestic cat.
?Then the wind changed and it saw us,? Sandborn said. ?It ran at us, and we
turned our horses around and took off at full speed.?
Prior to this encounter, Sandborn and her husband had heard the animal at night
from their home, just west of the TRW plant.
?I was outside one night at about 1:30 in the morning because I forgot to turn
our water off outside, and I heard these weird cat noises. I thought it was our
cat, but I couldn?t see it. As I kept calling it, it kept making these terrible
noises. My cat doesn?t make noises like that,? she said.
Sandborn said she hasn?t seen rabbits or foxes on their property for several
years, and there are few squirrels.
After spotting the large, black animal nearly three weeks ago, Sandborn called
Ionia County Animal Control to report it. Animal Control officer Gordon Douglas
responded.
?I don?t know what it is,? Douglas said. ?We have the one eye-witness, and I
don?t have any reason to doubt her, but I just can?t actually confirm what it
is.?
Douglas went out to the area where the animal was reported to have been seen,
and found several tracks.
?They were larger than dog tracks, and didn?t look like dog tracks,? he said.
?Someone who uses dogs to track large cats was supposed to try to find the
animal, and he never got back to me, so I?m assuming nothing has been found
yet.?
Portland City Manager Tom Dempsey said he has been in contact with animal
control, and is aware of the measures being taken to investigate the sighting.
He said he is confident that something is being done about it.
?I don?t want this to cause panic or seem sensational, but there is some concern
that the sighting was not far from a recreation trail,? he said. ?If someone
sees something, they shouldn?t discount it.?
Douglas said if the report had been descriptive of a cougar, there would be no
doubt about it?s identity. Some cougars were sighted approximately one year ago
in the west side of Ionia County. Douglas said cougars are brown or tan in
color, but Sandborn confidently reported a black animal.
?If the animal is in the cat family, it is a night hunter,? Douglas said. ?It
probably won?t be seen unless it wants to be.?
Dempsey said there have been no reports of livestock loss or pet loss.
Douglas said anyone coming across an animal like this should not turn their back
or run, causing the animal to go into prey-chase mode.
?Put distance between you and definitely back away,? he said.
Since the sighting, Sandborn has discussed her encounters with neighbors, who
she said have also heard strange cat noises in the past.
?I just want it gone,? she said. ?I won?t go into my yard past dark, and I have
young kids. I wish they would trap it and get it over with.?
After doing some research on her own, Sandborn is of the opinion that the animal
is a black leopard, also commonly known as a panther.
Douglas said such a cat is not native to Michigan, and would likely have been a
pet at one time, then abandoned.
http://www.sentinel-standard.com/articles/2005/10/20/news/01news.txt
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[Note: of course, no true black leopard has white paws. So, either the size is
wrong, or that detail is wrong. It is something that most people resist, but
they really have little ability to adequately distinguish large domestic cats
(especially those that are semi-feral) from truly wild species. An
overestimation of size is very easy to make.]
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Wildlife experts say they are sure the mysterious animal killed in Angelina County this week, is a common species. It's conjured up the wildest and worst fears of people, but a hairless animal may be very explainable. Dr. Billy Higginbotham with the Texas A & M Research Center in Overton says we're probably dealing with something we're very familiar with.
"This occurrence crops up from year to year , its not common but it does, its either a coyote or a feral dog or occasionally it could be a feral dog-coyote hybrid with sarcoptic mange, a disease" he says.
Researchers have even caught glimpses of hairless coyotes on motion sensor cameras used documenting wildlife. But others are not convinced, thinking it to be the mythical "Chupacabra" a bloodthirsty predator of Mexican lore. Hundreds have called and e-mailed with their own explanations of what the animals is, calling it a "New Jersey devil", a kangaroo dog, even an ancient sphinx.
"People enjoy summarizing what it might be" says Higginbotham.
But if it's a hybrid or new species, that presents another concern by health officials.
"Lets say that they did find out that yes you do have a new species in the area from an animal control standpoint the first thing that we would want to know is does this creature possible carry rabies" said Kevin Cummings of the Longview Environmental Health Department.
But Higginbotham remains confident.
"We don't have a new species on the loose in East Texas" he says.
Higginbotham says if you should see one of these "hairless coyotes", you should not be alarmed. Just notify the Parks and Wildlife Department in your area. Bob Hallmark reporting.
http://www.kltv.com/Global/story.asp?S=4390885&nav=1TjD