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A College of Veterinary Medicine Center of Excellence
Because we need nature, and nature needs us
Summer 2019
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Cornell's Dr. Noha Abou-Madi examines Doofah, a red panda at the Rosamond Gifford Zoo. Photo provided.
The Wildlife Health Cornell Center of Excellence represents an unprecedented approach to the health challenges wild animals face here in the northeast U.S. and around the world - a comprehensive, science-based response by a team of the world's top wildlife and ecosystem health experts.
In this feature article,
Zoo University: Education and Conservation Drive Cornell-Zoo Partnership, learn how the symbiotic 22-year partnership between Cornell University's College of Veterinary Medicine and the Rosamond Gifford Zoo in Syracuse, New York has been mutually beneficial to wildlife, students, and scientists alike, furthering both institutions' missions to improve the health and wellbeing of all animal species.
This synergistic relationship has provided world-class care for endangered species while giving veterinarians constant access to physiological and behavioral data that can be used to improve conservation outcomes. The partnership has also provided veterinary students unprecedented hands-on experience with rare species in need of care, and has enabled Cornell's launch of a residency program in zoological medicine.
For more information on the work of the Wildlife Health Cornell
Center of Excellence, please visit www.wildlifehealthcornell.org.
As in the past, we hope you find this e-newsletter useful and thought-provoking. Please let us know!
- Steve Osofsky, DVM
Jay Hyman Professor of Wildlife Health & Health Policy
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Cornell's Dr. Krysten Schuler was invited to provide her expert testimony and recommendations on combating chronic wasting disease (CWD) to the U.S. House of Representatives Committee on Natural Resources. Watch the video here.
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A recent United Nations report states that up to 1 million species face extinction as a result of human activity. Despite the grim figure, Wildlife Health Cornell's Dr. Steve Osofsky says it's not too late to protect global biodiversity - and humanity, ultimately dependent upon wild nature. Listen to his interview here.
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Wildlife Health Cornell team members recently received two Atkinson Center for a Sustainable Future grants. Dr. Martin Gilbert and colleagues and will be exploring the effects of human-leopard interaction on food security and public health in Nepal, and Dr. Krysten Schuler and team will test an awareness campaign that promotes non-lead ammunition to reduce the threat of lead toxicity to people and ecosystems.
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Cornell disease ecologist Dr. Krysten Schuler has been working with state officials in Pennsylvania and New York to document and improve our understanding of mange cases in black bears.
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Photo provided.
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Four years ago, 200,000 endangered saiga antelope died suddenly in the remote grasslands of Kazakhstan
, in the species' worst recorded mass mortality event. Cornell epidemiologist Dr. Wendy Beauvais was a part of the team that pinpointed the cause of death, and she has used the saiga as a case study to develop a framework to rapidly assess and prioritize future disease threats to wildlife.
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Wildlife Health Cornell co-hosted "Feeding the World Without Devouring It - A Planetary Health Symposium," a lively discussion on food, food security, and environmental stewardship. Guest speakers came from diverse walks of life to share their experiences and perspectives.
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In her new book Ocean Outbreak, Cornell's Dr. Drew Harvell explains the challenges, the need for action, and the reasons for hope when our oceans are under siege from disease, including chapters on coral health, sea star wasting disease, and ecosystem services-based solutions. A recent discovery is also cause for celebration- scientists found hundreds of healthy sea stars along the West Coast, representing a hoped-for recovery after dramatic population declines.
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A fungal disease that afflicts amphibians has led to the greatest loss of biodiversity ever recorded due to a pathogen, according to a study co-authored by Cornell's Dr. Kelly Zamudio.
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Your gift literally means the world to us!
Please consider supporting Wildlife Health Cornell by giving online, or contacting Sheila M. Reakes at 607-253-4310 or <smr45@cornell.edu>.
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The Wildlife Health Cornell Center of Excellence envisions a healthy future for wildlife, people and planet. We strive to develop proactive, science-based approaches for sustaining a healthier world. By improving knowledge, understanding, and capacity at the interface of wildlife health, domestic animal health, and human health and livelihoods, environmental stewardship can be enhanced today, and for tomorrow.
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To learn more about
Wildlife Health Cornell, please contact
Please let us know if you have any comments on this e-newsletter,
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if you find it useful! Thank you for your support.
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