Welcome New Members and new observations of potentially toxic plants

First welcome to three new members of the team @c_sp, @nate240, and @ninjajuju, we are glad that you are part of this study.

In the past two weeks we have observed lorikeets feeding on to potentially toxic plants.

The first is the Cocos Palm. The fruit can cause a paralytic disease in flying foxes, but we don't know about the nectar and these birds were feeding on nectar from flowers.

The second is the black bean tree Castanospermum. This is a native tree that is found in the area where LPS occurs. The beans are toxic if not processed correctly, but the aboriginal peoples cooked and treated them and used them to make bread. Again, the lorikeets were seen feeding on the flowers and not the beans, so we don't know if the nectar is toxic or not.

I have been in contact with Dr. Claude Lacasse at the RSPCA in Brisbane. She says that they are seeing a few cases of LPS come in now on a regular basis, but the numbers are low.

Thank you to everyone who has made observations this week. Given our current observation rate, we will have over 100 observations by next week. A good milestone.

Have a great week,

David, Maya, and Lauren

Publicado el 12 de noviembre de 2021 a las 11:40 PM por david4262