Wildlife veterinarians working on Chile’s remote Guafo Island discovered fatal heart damage, known as cardiomyopathy, in five South American fur seal pups that they had captured and placed in bags for up to 30 minutes, a standard practice to examine small seals. As part of an ongoing biological survey of the island, the researchers had caught and released fur seals for 4 years with no captivity-related deaths, but the sudden cluster triggered an investigation. Necropsies revealed that the pups had chronic hookworm infections, which aggravated their immune systems and sent their adrenal glands into hyperdrive.
Posted on: Sat, 23 Nov 2013 13:28:38 +0000
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