Wildlife can be first notice of terror, all types need careful care
Knight Ridder Newspapers
This story ran on nwitimes.com on Saturday, March 25, 2006 12:12 AM CST
"Canada and the United States are keeping a close eye on migratory birds that spend summers in Alaska. Not for pleasurable bird-watching reasons, but for public safety.
Hundreds of thousands of birds annually fly south for winter homes as far away as South America, crossing and settling into many North American areas as they travel.
It wouldn't take much -- maybe something the size of a can of hairspray -- to inoculate migrating ducks, swans and geese with a toxin that could threaten humans or endanger the agriculture industry.
Ed Clark, director of the nonprofit Wildlife Center of Virginia in Waynesboro, near Charlottesville, Va., believes the nation should prepare for and be vigilant about the possibility of environmental bio-terrorism.
He also thinks wildlife can be our earliest warning signal of a threat. For example, the possibility of waterfowl landing on and then dying from a poisoned public water supply is why Clark and the wildlife center have applied for and hope to hear soon about a $175,000 grant from the Institute for Defense and Homeland Security to plan and implement the North American Wildlife Disease Surveillance Networ[." (excerpt)
http://www.thetimesonline.com/articles/2006/03/25/entertainment/entertainment/6a7c22b3851986398625713800216730.txt - http://www.thetimesonline.com/articles/2006/03/25/entertainment/entertainment/6a7c22b3851986398625713800216730.txt
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