A mystery liver disease thought to be caused by introduced weeds is causing hairy-nosed wombats in southern Australia to go bald and die, researchers said yesterday.
The illness, which causes the wombat to lose some or all of its fur and then starve to death, is tearing through South Australia’s native southern hairy-nosed wombats, threatening entire populations.
Peter Clements from the state’s Natural History Society said wildlife rescue workers had discovered “several hundred” sickened animals in the Murraylands region near Adelaide, where up to 85 percent of the population was unwell.
“They tend to lose their fur in patches and sometimes in whole,” Clements said.
“You can see the bones showing through and they’re generally immobile, they just sit there in the sun all day and try to keep warm,” he said.
Clements said it was unusual to see the wombat, a nocturnal creature, out during the day and when they were in daylight, “we know that they’re in trouble.”
Initially the wombats were thought to have mange, but it became so widespread and severe that autopsies were carried out to determine the cause of the illness.
University of Adelaide researcher Wayne Boardman said the non-native toxic potato weed appeared to be affecting the wombats’ livers, triggering a reaction with ultraviolet light that caused them to lose their fur.
Boardman said it was unclear why the herbivorous wombat had suddenly taken to eating the noxious weed, but a shortage of their usual grasses and alternative foods due to prolonged local drought could be to blame.
“We have a feeling it might well be a struggle to find enough vegetation, leading them to eat other plants like weeds, and particularly potato weed, which is then having a deleterious effect on the liver,” Boardman told ABC Radio.
The creatures were also roaming in areas where they were not usually seen, supporting the theory that there were food shortages and they “have to move out to find vegetation,” he added.
Squat and thickly furred, wombats are small burrow-dwelling marsupials that walk on all fours and are bear-like in appearance with a wide muzzle and a flattened head.
BOMBARDMENT: Moscow sent more than 440 drones and 32 missiles, Volodymyr Zelenskiy said, in ‘one of the most terrifying strikes’ on the capital in recent months A nighttime Russian missile and drone bombardment of Ukraine killed at least 15 people and injured 116 while they slept in their homes, local officials said yesterday, with the main barrage centering on the capital, Kyiv. Kyiv City Military Administration head Tymur Tkachenko said 14 people were killed and 99 were injured as explosions echoed across the city for hours during the night. The bombardment demolished a nine-story residential building, destroying dozens of apartments. Emergency workers were at the scene to rescue people from under the rubble. Russia flung more than 440 drones and 32 missiles at Ukraine, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy
COMPETITION: The US and Russia make up about 90 percent of the world stockpile and are adding new versions, while China’s nuclear force is steadily rising, SIPRI said Most of the world’s nuclear-armed states continued to modernize their arsenals last year, setting the stage for a new nuclear arms race, the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI) said yesterday. Nuclear powers including the US and Russia — which account for about 90 percent of the world’s stockpile — had spent time last year “upgrading existing weapons and adding newer versions,” researchers said. Since the end of the Cold War, old warheads have generally been dismantled quicker than new ones have been deployed, resulting in a decrease in the overall number of warheads. However, SIPRI said that the trend was likely
‘SHORTSIGHTED’: Using aid as leverage is punitive, would not be regarded well among Pacific Island nations and would further open the door for China, an academic said New Zealand has suspended millions of dollars in budget funding to the Cook Islands, it said yesterday, as the relationship between the two constitutionally linked countries continues to deteriorate amid the island group’s deepening ties with China. A spokesperson for New Zealand Minister of Foreign Affairs Winston Peters said in a statement that New Zealand early this month decided to suspend payment of NZ$18.2 million (US$11 million) in core sector support funding for this year and next year as it “relies on a high trust bilateral relationship.” New Zealand and Australia have become increasingly cautious about China’s growing presence in the Pacific
Indonesia’s Mount Lewotobi Laki-Laki yesterday erupted again with giant ash and smoke plumes after forcing evacuations of villages and flight cancelations, including to and from the resort island of Bali. Several eruptions sent ash up to 5km into the sky on Tuesday evening to yesterday afternoon. An eruption on Tuesday afternoon sent thick, gray clouds 10km into the sky that expanded into a mushroom-shaped ash cloud visible as much as 150km kilometers away. The eruption alert was raised on Tuesday to the highest level and the danger zone where people are recommended to leave was expanded to 8km from the crater. Officers also
RSS