[va-richmond-general] Bird article
- From: "IE Ries" <FEATHERCHASER@xxxxxxxxxxxx>
- To: "RAS" <va-richmond-general@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Thu, 23 Dec 2004 10:14:11 -0500
I wish all stories about birds were good ones, but sometimes we need to see
these, too. Didn't Margaret recently go to NZ? Has anyone ever seen these
birds? Go see them before there aren't any left...
Science - Reuters
Mystery Illness Stalks World's Rarest Penguin
1 hour, 14 minutes ago Science - Reuters
JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) - A mystery disease is killing off yellow-eyed
penguin chicks in New Zealand in a fresh blow to efforts to conserve the
world's rarest member of the penguin family, a conservation group said on
Thursday.
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BirdLife International said the disease, which has baffled local
scientists, had killed up to 80 percent of this spring's chick's in the
worst affected areas on New Zealand's South Island.
"Most penguin chicks have been found dead at nests on Otago Peninsula
and North Otago, with other outbreaks on Stewart Island and the Catlins
coast," BirdLife said.
"With a global population of just under 5,000 birds, the yellow-eyed
penguin is classified by BirdLife as endangered and is considered to be the
world's rarest penguin species," it said.
BirdLife said New Zealand's Department of Conservation was running
tests to try and pinpoint the extent and nature of the illness, which is
thought to be caused by a strain of cornynebacterium.
It said there are more than 50 strains of this type of infection, one
of which causes human diphtheria.
It said that the infection did not seem to be causing any harm to
adult birds.
"This latest die-off is bad news for the world's rarest penguin
species," said Barry Weeber, a senior conservation officer with BirdLife in
New Zealand.
"Subpopulations on the southeast coast of the South Island and Stewart
Island are already in decline and this will only add to the pressures this
endangered species faces," said Weeber.
The main threats to yellow-eyed penguins include introduced predators
such as domestic cats and loss of habitat.
BirdLife classifies three of the world's 17 penguin species as
endangered -- meaning they are threatened with extinction -- and seven of
them as vulnerable.
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