Scientists are concerned about the role the disease may play in the seals’ recovery.
Under NOAA’s recovery plan, the population must grow from the current 1,100 to a minimum of 2,900 before it can be downlisted to threatened. In a recent article, NOAA scientists stated that “fishery interactions, direct killing, and disease could rapidly undo the current fragile positive trend” on the main islands.
“The greatest need for seals right now is fostering the co-existence of seals and people. That’s the most immediate threat to population growth in the main Hawaiian islands,” Littnan says. Compounding the threat, “toxo and lepto will be there and will probably continue to operate in a background level.”
See what we're tweeting about
5 Comments
Add CommentI love cats but this is crazy. What next?
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisThere are better ways to advertise. Shit head.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisDogs, cats and a tsunami: I knew right away that Hoku didn't mean "lucky."
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisHow many ways can YOU spell Hawaii?
I’d like to point out that there are different strains of Toxoplasma gondii. While it’s true that researchers in California have linked T. gondii to the deaths of sea otters, some of this work has shown that wild felids (e.g., bobcats and mountain lions) are more likely than domestic cats to carry the Type X strain—which has been shown (again, in some studies) to be the culprit in the majority of toxoplasma-related deaths of California sea otters, Pacific harbor seals, and California sea lions (please see my 30-July post for details: http://www.voxfelina.com/2010/07/parasite-lost/).
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisAs Charles Littnan says, “We are only just beginning to understand the prevalence of the disease in the population and determine ways to mitigate the impact.”
That said, I don’t know that any wild felids live in Hawaii—which would SEEM to point the finger (once again) at the domestic cats. Which brings us to Hawaii SB 13 (http://animals.change.org/blog/view/hawaii_bill_would_make_humanely_trapping_cats_a_crime), a proposal to outlaw the humane trapping of cats (or even the sale of traps for this purpose).
It’s difficult to see how this legislation could possibly be beneficial to wildlife or the cats, as there doesn’t seem to be an alternative plan in place. Something else to consider: if the domestic cats were removed from Hawaii, the population of rodents would very likely skyrocket—which, naturally, would have its own consequences. (This is called the mesopredator release phenomenon—to read about a dramatic example, see: http://edition.cnn.com/2009/WORLD/asiapcf/01/12/eco.macquarieisland/index.html.)
Of course, all of this is supposed to be taken into account as legislation is being drafted. Once again, it appears our decision makers are taking an overly simplistic view of the natural world and our supposed mastery of it.
Peter J. Wolf
http://www.voxfelina.com
The Hawaii state legislature is not renowned for its foresight, hindsight or insight. In downtown Honolulu cats may control rats (although they can't deal with big Norways), but cats devastate seabird populations along the coast and native bird populations in the mountains. Since there are no other felids in Hawaii, feral cats are what is causing the toxoplasmosis in the monk seals.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisIronically if it is illegal to humanely trap cats, how will they be controlled in urban areas (trap neuter release would appear to be out) or in rural areas? I suspect it won't be humane.