Studies on the Helminth Fauna of Alaska. XIII. Disease in the Sea Otter, with Special Reference to Helminth Parasites

During the spring of 1951, the U. S. Fish and Wildlife Service undertook the removal of sea otter, Enhydra lutris (L)., from the Aleutian Island of Amchitka, for the purpose of restocking range from which the animals have long been exterminated. The decision to undertake this activity was influenced by the nature of military operations planned for the island later the same year. The capture and removal of the otter were under the supervision of Mr. Robert D. Jones, Biologist, U. S. Fish and Wildlife Service. Heavy losses among the animals shortly after capture made the venture unsuccessful. Many deaths were concurrent among animals in the wild state. The writer was asked to investigate the causes of disease in the sea otter, and it is the purpose of this paper to report the results of these investigation, with special reference to helminth parasites.

THE ORGANISATION OF RABBIT CONTROL (Oryctolagus cuniculus) IN WESTERN AUSTRALIA

ABSTRACT: Under Western Australian legislation, landholders have an obligation to control rabbits on their properties; local authorities the responsibility to supervise their work whilst the Agriculture Protection Board has a Statewide supervisory and co-ordination role. Prior to 1950 (when the Agriculture Protection Board was formed) the central role was in the hands of a Government department which, through lack of staff and money was unable to provide adequate supervision, and rabbits were in plague proportions. Since 1950, the Board has actively engaged in a vigorous policy aimed at tighter control and supervision. To enable this, the Board has entered into a voluntary scheme with local authorities whereby the role of local supervision of landholders is passed to staff employed by the Board, but jointly financed by the local authority and the Board. A contract poisoning service is also pro¬vided by the Agriculture Protection Board to any landholder who is unable or unwilling, to meet his obligations in this area. Both services are subsidised. Two of the major reasons for the poor level of control existing before 1950, have thereby been minimised. Soon after its formation, the Board set up a research section which has devoted nearly all of its activities to applied research on control of the State's many vertebrate pest problems. In the rabbit control area, poisoning has received most attention. The "One-Shot" method of poisoning was developed after years of research. Fumigation is at present being closely studied as is the economics of complete eradication from some areas of the State. Greatest needs in the applied rabbit research field at present are: (1) a selective poison, or poisoning regime, which will not harm stock, and (2) a more complete understanding of the economics of control and eradication. The serious rabbit problem which existed in 1950 has been reduced to very small proportions, by organisational development using local research findings. These organisational developments have been implemented by circumvention rather than confrontation.

AVITROL 1973

The Federal Registration for Avitrol to be used in standing field corn restricts use to application under supervision of Governmental agencies trained in bird control. The majority of current Avitrol labels state, "For use by or under supervision of government agencies or pest control operators. Not for sale to the public." This slight difference has already caused much discussion and the matter isn't resolved yet. There are different interpretations of this statement. Also for crops the material is only registered for field corn. There is a need for the material to be registered for sweet corn and sunflowers, although I do not believe the latter were grown as widely in Ohio in 1973 as in the past few years.