What's killing the Bald Eagles of Utah?

[bananas]

Source: Digital Journal

Wildlife officials are scrambling to find out what has killed 20 Bald Eagles and sickened many others over the past few weeks in Utah.

Hikers, farmers, hunters and others have been coming across the sick birds over a broad area in the northern and central parts of the state. They have been found limp, seriously weakened, often suffering from paralysis and seizures. Most die within 48 hours.

Thus far, lab tests have ruled out hunting injuries, poisoning and West Nile Virus.

<snip>

“It’s just hard to have your national bird in your arms, going through seizures in a way it can’t control – when you can see it’s in pain but you don’t know what’s causing it,“ said Buz Marthaler, a co-founder of the center, in an article in the Los Angeles Times. “And when you lose one, it just grabs your heart.”

<snip>

This year, there was a major die-off of the grebes, possibly from avian cholera, though wildlife officials are equally mystified by this die-off. Since Bald Eagles are scavengers, some wildlife officials speculate that the sickened eagles may have fed on the diseased grebes.

<snip>


Read more: http://www.digitaljournal.com/news/environment/what-s-killing-the-bald-eagles-of-utah/article/364799

[Blanket Statements]

1. I'm going to say death is killing them

[dipsydoodle]

2. Sounds majorly tragic.

Hopefully the cause will be found quickly.

[dsc]

3. let me channel the anti gay nutbags

it is gay marriage killing the eagles.

[TheBlackAdder]

4. Now that Tiercel-Tiercel weddings are finally legal, the forced wives are getting dumped.

This is a bit of snark.

[Crowman1979]

5. Fracking?

Which I assume is legal in Utah.

[Coyotl]

6. lead

Concerns Rise Over Known and Potential Impacts of Lead on Wildlife
http://www.nwhc.usgs.gov/disease_information/lead_poisoning/
Page Last Modified: Jun 18, 2013

Seventeen years after nontoxic shot requirements were established for hunting waterfowl, attention has shifted to lead poisoning in other species. These include upland game birds, scavengers (such as vultures, hawks and eagles) and other waterbirds that are exposed to lead through the ingestion of spent lead shot, bullet fragments and fishing sinkers.

...........

The most significant hazard to wildlife is through direct ingestion of spent lead shot and bullets, lost fishing sinkers, tackle and related fragments, or through consumption of wounded or dead prey containing lead shot, bullets or fragments.

Dr. Barnett Rattner, USGS contaminant expert comments, "The magnitude of poisoning in some species such as waterfowl, eagles, California condors, swans and loons, is daunting. For this reason, on July 1, 2008, the state of California put restrictions on the use of lead ammunition in parts of the range of the endangered California condor because the element poses such a threat to this endangered species." Lead poisoning causes behavioral, physiological, biochemical effects and often death. While fish ingest sinkers, jigs and hooks, mortality in fish seems to be related to injury, blood loss, exposure to air and exhaustion rather than the lead toxicity that affects warm-blooded species.

Although lead from spent ammunition and lost fishing tackle is not readily released into aquatic and terrestrial systems, under some environmental conditions it can slowly dissolve and enter groundwater, making it potentially hazardous for plants, animals and perhaps even people if it enters water bodies or is taken up in plant roots. For example, said Rattner, dissolved lead can result in lead contamination in groundwater near some shooting ranges and at heavily hunted sites, particularly those hunted year after year.

Research on lead poisoning has been focused on bird species, with at least two studies indicating that the ban on the use of lead shot for hunting waterfowl in North America has been successful in reducing lead exposure in waterfowl. The authors found that upland game, like doves and quail, and scavenging birds, such as vultures and eagles, continue to be exposed to lead shot, putting some populations (condors in particular) at risk of lead poisoning.

Some states have limited the use of lead shot in upland areas to minimize such effects, and others are considering such restrictions.

[ReRe]

7. Analogous to America dying...

[LadyHawkAZ]

8. Probably our lovely brownish-yellow air

http://www.sltrib.com/csp/cms/sites/sltrib/pages/slidegallery.csp?cid=57275315&pid=5772878

It's not doing wonders for the people either.

[New Orleans Strong]

9. Not that many years ago...

I was lucky enough to work with/have a non-releasable bald eagle. Left wing completely shot off. No stump. Hunter who thought... I guess something. Freedom?? Believe it or not, the best bird ever. And the gentlest. If one bit of food was left on my finger, he would take that HUGE beak and carefully pick a bit of fish guts the size of a comma off my hand. Loved M. so much...

[libodem]

10. Awwww

What a special experience. Very cool.

[bananas]

12. Here's a video of a rescue: "Family rescues bald eagle during hike"

It's an uplifting video, worth watching:

http://www.nbcnews.com/video/nightly-news/53921042

Nightly News | December 26, 2013

Family rescues bald eagle during hike
A team of researchers is investigating a mysterious and deadly illness taking the lives of a treasured national icon: the bald eagle. So far, 16 of the majestic birds have died. To learn more, please visit the Wildlife Rehabilitation Center of Northern Utah at www.wrcnu.org. NBC’s Miguel Almaguer reports.

The same video is on this page:

http://usnews.nbcnews.com/_news/2013/12/26/22064079-disease-suspected-in-utah-die-off-of-bald-eagles?lite

Disease suspected in Utah die-off of bald eagles

By Laura Zuckerman, Reuters

The tally of unexplained bald eagle deaths in Utah this month rose to 20 on Thursday as state wildlife officials looked for possible links to diseases suspected in a coinciding die-off of thousands of shore birds around the Great Salt Lake.

<snip>

Necropsies, the animal equivalent of autopsy examinations, have yet to pinpoint what is killing the eagles, but scientists now believe a disease rather than a toxin is the culprit, said Leslie McFarlane, Utah wildlife disease coordinator.

"It appears to be more disease-related since we're seeing birds with neurological symptoms and enlarged hearts. That doesn't rule out all toxins, but it shortens the list of suspects," she said.

McFarlane said a recent die-off in Utah of eared grebes that began in November and has now killed thousands of birds may be tied to the deaths of eagles, which are known to prey on the small shore birds.

Avian cholera and another highly infectious bacterial disease - erysipelas - are suspected in the grebe die-off, which has led biologists to theorize that afflicted eagles may have contracted one of the two diseases by feeding on infected grebes, she said.

<snip>

Preliminary testing of eagle carcasses by a national wildlife lab in Wisconsin has so far ruled out poisoning from lead ammunition used by hunters to shoot ducks and other waterfowl included in the diet of eagles, McFarlane said.

<snip>

You can download this link to save the video: http://msnbc.vo.llnwd.net/e1/video/flash/nn_08mal_eagle_131226.flv
It's flv format which can be played by vlc http://www.videolan.org

[Thor_MN]

11. Do they migrate into Canada? Increased Mercury levels have been found around the Tar Sands.

I'm sure they are testing the carcases for heavy metals. Hard to tell if the "ruled out poisoning" includes heavy metals. It is a quick and easy test, so they probably have done that.

[proverbialwisdom]

13. Very sad, as is Utah's mysterious autism incidence which I briefly read about the other day.

http://fox13now.com/2013/12/22/local-business-raises-thousands-of-dollars-for-autistic-students/

Local business raises thousands of dollars for autistic students
Posted on: 10:46 pm, December 22, 2013, by Mark Green and Hope Woodside

OREM, Utah – Employees at Clear Horizons Academy in Orem are thankful for the season of giving after they received a generous donation that will help children with autism.

Carol Walker of the Clear Horizons Academy said Utah has a higher incidence of autism than most states.

“The numbers for autism nationally are one in 88,” Walker said. “In Utah, they’re one in 47.”

<>

Link from: http://www.ageofautism.com/2013/12/dachel-media.html#more


Stat corroborated in an op-ed written by the mayor of Salt Lake County, Utah.

http://www.deseretnews.com/article/865590933/Access-to-insurance-coverage-for-autism-treatment-makes-sense.html?pg=all

My view: Access to insurance coverage for autism treatment makes sense
By Ben McAdams
For the Deseret News
Published: Wednesday, Nov. 20 2013 12:00 a.m. MST
Updated: Tuesday, Nov. 19 2013 8:12 p.m. MST

Autism spectrum disorders are a group of developmental disabilities, often diagnosed during early childhood. What normally unfolds as a hectic but joyous time for the parents may quickly become a baffling, frightening period as they try to cope. Some children with autism do not learn to speak as normal children do; some have tantrums; others withdraw into themselves.

More children are diagnosed at earlier ages — a growing number of them by 3 years of age. However, most children were not diagnosed until after they were 4 years old. The Centers for Disease Control reports that 1 in 47 children in Utah are in the autism disorder spectrum, compared to 1 in 88 nationally.

<>

Ben McAdams is the mayor of Salt Lake County

Link from: http://www.ageofautism.com/2013/11/dachel-media-review-ho-ho-no-questions-asked-about-autism-epidemic.html

[rwsanders]

14. Do they allow poisoning of other predators there?

Wolves, coyotes are targeted. I don't know if eastern Utah still picks up prarie, but areas that have it also poison prarie dogs. Despite many images, bald eagles will also scavenge. But the bottom line is a bunch of people out there that think they can remake nature into what their own twisted imaginations think it should be through the use of chemicals.

[proverbialwisdom]

15. More.

http://articles.latimes.com/2013/dec/28/nation/la-na-utah-eagles-20131229

Link from: http://enenews.com/la-times-experts-concerned-bald-eagles-deaths-related-to-fukushima-radiation-very-unusual-its-hard-to-have-your-national-bird-in-your-arms-going-through-seizures-idaho-offi

[dipsydoodle]

16. West Nile Virus

Dont know how to link using tablet - search to find link confirming.