Archivos de Diario para diciembre 2021

lunes, 06 de diciembre de 2021

Another tool in the tool box

Dear Rainbow Lorikeet Observers,

There have been a couple of exciting developments this week.

We have been contacted by mapping specialist who will be helping us to map the distribution of land use and vegetation to the distribution of the lorikeet paralysis cases. He will be working with Lauren after the first of the year.

We also just got our first results back from Rachel Wilson, a scientist who can explore the DNA sequences found in bat and now lorikeet poo and determine what they have been eating. We got back our first results from 8 birds and can clearly see what species of plants they fed on in the day before they developed the lorikeet paralysis syndrome. We will be meeting with Rachel next week to expand the study and include control samples from birds that present for reasons other than lorikeet paralysis syndrome.

Again thank you all for your many observations and continued support of this work.

Have a great week,
David,
Lauren
Maya

Publicado el lunes, 06 de diciembre de 2021 a las 08:58 PM por david4262 david4262 | 2 comentarios | Deja un comentario

viernes, 17 de diciembre de 2021

Wishing you Happy Holidays

Dear Lorikeet Spotters,

To our new members and the ones that have been with us since this project started, thank you again for all your contributions this year and I hope that all of you can have a safe and holiday with your friends and family.

Lorikeets with lorikeet paralysis continue to present into care, as unfortunately we are coming to the time of year when the most cases are seen. Last year in January there was a similar disease seen in flying foxes where hundreds of paralysed flying foxes were found and brought into care. It is possible that this could be the same problem that we are seeing in our lorikeets. This makes what you are doing even more important, as perhaps if we can identify the cause for one or the other, we can identify the cause for both.

So keep spotting and reporting. If you visiting someone, don't forget to look out the window or take a walk around the block and see what the lorikeets are feeding on.

All the best,

David, Maya, and Lauren

Publicado el viernes, 17 de diciembre de 2021 a las 10:29 PM por david4262 david4262 | 0 comentarios | Deja un comentario