New project to monitor the health of native wildlife launched
Press release
December 2008
Disease among Victoria’s native wildlife will be monitored for the first time in a collaborative project led by the Faculty of Veterinary Science at the University of Melbourne.
Anyone involved with animals across the state is encouraged to help out by reporting any sick or dead free-ranging animals or unusual behaviour to the Wildlife Health Surveillance Victoria.
This includes field staff in the departments of Sustainability and Environment, Primary Industry and Parks Victoria, farmers, veterinarians, zoo staff, wildlife carers, bird observers, researchers and members of the public.
The aim is to understand more about the diseases affecting wildlife species and develop strategies for tackling them.
Of particular concern are the decline in frog species due to an introduced fungal infection and beak and feather disease (psittacine circoviral disease) in parrots and cockatoos.
Some infections can also affect humans, including the Australian bat lyssavirus carried by bats and Murray Valley encephalitis, and they can also move between domestic animals and wildlife, such as bird flu and salmonella.
Pam Whiteley, who helped set up the Australian Wildlife Health Network in 2002 before joining the Wildlife Health Surveillance Victoria project, said: “We want as many people as possible to report sick and dead wildlife so we can know more about what’s happening.
“Anyone that sees wildlife can get involved, from people who live in the country with a flock of Crimson Rosellas on their land to people who see kangaroos moving in the wild. If they notice one moving slowly or in an uncoordinated manner or have seen anything significant in the past then we want to hear from them.”
The online survey, which takes respondents step-by-step through possible symptoms in koalas, kangaroos and wallabies, wombats, possums, bats, parrots, cockatoos, lorikeets, currawongs, magpies, ravens, frogs, snakes and feral animals aims to establish numbers, locations and patterns of disease in wildlife across the state.
Participants are encouraged to enter their details and contribute to wildlife health reporting in the future. Any photos or videos can be submitted via the website.
The survey can be accessed until the end of February 2009 through the project’s website – www.vet.unimelb.edu.au/wildlifehealthsurveillancevic
The initial project has been funded for three years by the Hermon Slade Foundation, which was established in October 1995 to "advance and enhance the progress and harmony of mankind with the Earth”.
It is hoped that further funding will be forthcoming once the project produces its initial findings.
“This is the sort of project that should involve a network of governmental and non-governmental organisations and individuals as some of these diseases can affect human health and that of farm animals in addition to biodiversity conservation,” said Ms Whiteley, a former University of Melbourne graduate who has since been vet and curator at the Healesville Sanctuary and contributing to wildlife health in the USA and Australia.
“There may be new discoveries that will help us establish priorities for future research and management.”
She hopes that similar projects will become established in other states, linked to the Australian Wildlife Health Network, as part of a ‘one health’ approach to biosecurity and wildlife conservation.
For further information please contact the Marketing Manager, Faculty of Veterinary Science, University of Melbourne, Tel: 8344 7844 or email: vet-communications@unimelb.edu.au