Toxic tides linked to northern fur seal deaths

July 11, 2025 by Kaylyn Zipp

In a striking example of how climate change is reshaping Arctic marine ecosystems, researchers have conclusively linked a saxitoxin algal bloom to the deaths of seals for the first time.

Scientists linked high saxitoxin concentrations in both seals and their prey off St. Paul Island, Alaska, to a bloom of Alexandrium catenella, a type of plankton, through collaborative interdisciplinary research. But this rare discovery, uncovered by a chance beach walk, sheds light on the growing threat of saxitoxin, a potent, naturally occurring neurotoxin.

“This is an incredibly well-documented poisoning event,” said Kathi Lefebvre, a research biologist at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s Northwest Fisheries Science Center. “We know these events are probably happening. We just have not been able to catch them as clearly as this one.”

Lefebvre has been documenting the increase in harmful algal blooms on the West Coast of the United States over the past 20 years as leader of the Wildlife Algal-toxin Research and Response Network for the U.S. West Coast (WARRN-West)—a coast-wide surveillance program focused on monitoring marine wildlife for exposure to algal toxins.

As recorded in research published recently in Marine Mammal Science, scientists found several northern fur seal (Callorhinus ursinus) carcasses washed up on Benson Beach, St. Paul Island, alongside dead fish. The testing revealed high levels of saxitoxin in multiple tissues of all the adult seals, especially in the urine, which is clear evidence that they had been exposed. Scientists had satellite-tagged one of the seals, linking its movements to a known feeding area where collaborators at Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI) had recorded a bloom of Alexandrium catenella.

On dozens of research cruises over five years, the WARRN-West network and its partners sampled the food web in the southeastern Bering Sea. Their analysis showed high saxitoxin levels in the prey available to the seals when the seals would have been present in the area. To trace the exposure pathway, researchers collaborated with WHOI oceanographers who used particle-tracking models to demonstrate how ocean currents could have transported the carcasses from the bloom site to Benson Beach. This rare combination of biological evidence, food web sampling and ocean modeling offered a uniquely complete picture of a saxitoxin-caused die-off.

Saxitoxin is one of the most significant and growing threats to Arctic marine ecosystems. But it’s a silent killer. Confirmed mortality events are rare, and the effects are not easily observed because saxitoxin poisoning causes paralytic shellfish poisoning. When occurring far from shore, it can lead to paralysis, suffocation and then death as creatures likely drown, leaving little trace. Saxitoxin also poses a threat to food safety, as it accumulates in the food web and affects seafood that humans consume. There is not a readily available saxitoxin field test for recreational and subsistence-caught food.

Emily Bowers (WARRN-West lead technician) onboard an Arctic research cruise with the benthic grab sampler used to collect sediment samples for Alexandrium cyst counts. Credit: Irina Trukhanova/U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service

While Alexandrium catenella has likely existed in the Bering Sea for centuries, cold bottom waters historically kept its populations in check. However, warming ocean conditions over the past decade have created an increasingly favorable environment for HABs to thrive.

Rising water temperatures now allow the dormant cysts of this toxic algae to germinate and seed new blooms. Warmer surface waters accelerate algal growth, and the loss of sea ice increases sunlight penetration, further fueling the development of blooms.

“This is a quantifiable impact of climate change,” Lefebvre said.

The silent impact of saxitoxin, fueled by a changing climate, is no longer out of sight or out of mind. However, the researchers said this work gives us hope by demonstrating the strength of long-term collaborative research and how interest groups can work together to understand these impacts moving forward.

Supreme Court rules federal agencies may resume staff layoffs

July 11, 2025 by The Wildlife Society

The U.S. Supreme Court has cleared the way for sweeping federal layoffs by lifting a court-ordered injunction that had temporarily halted any reduction-in-force (RIF).

The executive order and related implementation guidance directed agencies to focus on eliminating “waste, bloat and insularity” by reducing the federal workforce. The plaintiffs, which included the American Federation of Government Employees, had argued that the administration overstepped its authority by using executive directives to circumvent congressional authority, potentially dismantling core government functions in a way that would be difficult, if not impossible, to reverse.

Government lawyers countered that the president acted within constitutional authority and that the injunction had impeded the efficient functioning of federal agencies.

But in an 8–1 decision, the court ruled that the Trump administration lawfully issued its executive order “Implementing the President’s ‘Department of Government Efficiency’ Workforce Optimization Initiative.” The Supreme Court ruling did not weigh in on the legality of specific agency reorganizations or RIF plans.

Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson, the lone dissenter, raised concerns about the impact and precedent of the ruling. “In my view, this was the wrong decision at the wrong moment, especially given what little this court knows about what is actually happening on the ground,” Jackson said.

TWS stands with our members and colleagues affected by recent federal workforce reductions and is committed to advocating for you and providing resources to support your professional and personal well-being during this time.

Rats migrating in cities may spread deadly disease

July 10, 2025 by Olivia Milloway

Rats tend to stay in close-knit social groups within a few city blocks. But as they migrate through Boston, they may spread a potentially deadly disease.

Most common in cities on the East Coast, brown rats have plagued urbanites for centuries. As their estimated numbers have surged even in the last few decades, so has the risk they pose to public health.

But some pest control campaigns might cause rats—who are otherwise fairly stationary—to migrate, which would increase disease transmission, said Marieke Rosenbaum, a public health veterinarian at the Cummings School of Veterinary Medicine at Tufts University in Massachusetts. Rosenbaum researches how urban wildlife impacts human health in shared urban spaces. “Our management of rodents is impacting their movement, which could actually facilitate transmission of disease between rat populations that otherwise don’t normally intermingle that much,” she said.

In a new study published in Neglected Tropical Diseases, Rosenbaum and her colleagues investigated the prevalence of a deadly bacterium that causes the disease leptospirosis in humans and other mammals within rat populations in Boston.

A brown rat scampers away from a bait box that contains a rat trap. The box helps exclude any other wildlife that might wander in. Credit: Marieke Rosenbaum

Brown rats (Rattus norvegicus), which spread from Asia to Europe to North America in the 1700s as stowaways on trade ships, carry a host of pathogens, including Leptospira. This bacterium causes leptospirosis, a disease that affects many mammals, including humans. While leptospirosis can often be asymptomatic, especially in rats, it can sometimes cause serious symptoms, ranging from fever, muscle aches, nausea and vomiting to coughing up blood, chest pain and even death in severe cases. In Boston, one person who contracted the disease in 2018 was admitted to the emergency room with multi-organ failure. Globally, it is the most widespread bacterial zoonotic disease, with over 1 million human cases and nearly 60,000 deaths annually.

Laboratory collaborations

To conduct their study, Rosenbaum and her team received rat carcasses from the Boston Inspectional Services Department and also personally collected samples. They attached sensors to the rat traps that notified their phones each time a rat activated the trap. The team also tested historical frozen samples kept in their lab for pathogens so they could track changes through time.

After conducting necropsies on the rat samples they collected at Tufts, the team shipped the kidneys—where Leptospira likes to hide—to the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA). The USDA used molecular tests to determine if the rats were infected with Leptospira and sequence the bacteria’s genome.

Dave Wagner, a disease ecologist at Northern Arizona University, also developed new molecular tools to look for genetic similarities among clades of the bacterium.

Of the 328 rats sampled in the study, about 18%, or 59 individuals, tested positive. They were all asymptomatic but still carried the infection in their kidneys.

Researchers also discovered a close relationship between one of the Leptospira clades they isolated and a human case from Boston in 2018. “It suggests that maybe the human got infected in the area that the rats were,” Wagner said. Rosenbaum also said that cases have been increasing in the Northeast.

The researchers then used genetic markers to delineate rat populations in the city and track their migration through time. They found that rats in Boston would need to travel over one-third of a mile to reach another genetically distinct population of rats, which they rarely did. “Other studies have shown that rats have high site fidelity and like to stay within a few city blocks of their burrowing systems,” Rosenbaum said. While greenways and parks facilitated rat migration, large roads were barriers to their movement.

“We found most of these rats don’t go very far,” Wagner said. But there are exceptions—one rat moved a long distance that corresponded with a Boston subway line. Researchers think it hitched a ride on a truck or train, another example of how humans can unwittingly influence rat migration.

Focusing on at-risk populations

Another cause of rat migration is construction, which disturbs rat nests and burrow systems. If rats lose their homes, they will move into other communities, carrying whatever diseases they have with them.

Pest control campaigns can eradicate a population of rats, but it also opens up the habitat. “You create an open niche for pests to come in,” Rosenbaum said.

Rosenbaum said it’s important to understand how pest control affects disease transmission among urban rats because many campaigns are focused on reducing populations wherever they exist. “But the idea that we can ever eradicate rats from these major cities is really not feasible,” she said. “We need to shift our focus to high-risk areas where we know both the rats are carrying the disease and the humans in that area are vulnerable.”

The researchers also tested the rats for Seoul virus, a type of hantavirus that is one of the main causes of hemorrhagic fever with renal syndrome. Of the 200 rat lungs they tested, 8.6% were positive for Seoul virus. “This disease is rarely looked for in the Northeast, but it is present and zoonotic,” Rosenbaum said.

Leptospira is transmitted through the urine of infected rats, contaminated environments or sometimes through rat bites. People experiencing homelessness, those engaging in outdoor injection drug use and sanitation workers are at a higher risk of contracting leptospirosis because they come into closer contact with rats and contaminated environments.

“It’s worth understanding how frequently these at-risk populations are being exposed and infected,” Rosenbaum said. “And right now, there’s no surveillance to understand these dynamics at all,” she said. “Understanding how it behaves within these rat populations is the first step.”

2025 TWS election results are in

July 9, 2025 by The Wildlife Society

Members of The Wildlife Society have voted for Mike Conner as the new vice president after the 2025 election results have been tallied.

Jason Riddle was elected as the North Central Representative, while Chad Bishop was elected as the Northwest Representative. Jim Sedinger was elected as the Western Representative.

The Wildlife Society would like to congratulate all candidates who ran for a position this election cycle, including Tim M. Green, Tyler M. Harms, Barbara Hill and Kenneth E Mayer.

Read more about our incoming VP and Council members below.

Mike Conner

My introduction to The Wildlife Society occurred when I was a senior at the University of Tennessee at Martin. Now, nearly three decades later, I remain actively involved, having benefited both professionally and personally from my engagement with TWS. My long-term involvement, including service as a Representative to Council, has prepared me for the role of Vice President, and I have two primary reasons for running. First, I look forward to working collaboratively with Council and TWS membership as we navigate the obstacles and opportunities that are sure to arise over the next few years. I strive to understand the perspectives of others, and I believe this trait and my prior experiences on Council will be an asset in this role. Second, I am keenly interested in working with Council and staff to improve membership recruitment and retention. Strengthening TWS in this area will have a long-lasting impact.

We currently have approximately 11,000 members, a number that has remained relatively flat in recent years. During my tenure on TWS Council, I found that about half of chapter members were not members of TWS. Conversations with attendees at chapter meetings revealed two common reasons for this gap. Some were unaware of the distinction between TWS and TWS chapters, assuming that being a member of a state or student chapter meant they were also members of TWS. This issue can be addressed through regular and purposeful communication at chapter meetings to clarify TWS structure. Others did not perceive the benefits of membership to justify the cost. I want to better understand this perspective so TWS can enhance its value and relevance at all levels of the organization.

I would like to explore strategies to showcase the value of TWS membership to the non-member wildlife professionals within TWS chapters. Specifically, I will encourage communication between TWS and its chapters to identify how TWS can better support activities that foster interactions among wildlife professionals from multiple yet geographically similar chapters, such as adjoining state chapters or within a TWS section. This approach would broaden individual member networks while increasing the relevance and value of TWS at more local scales.

My vision for TWS is directly related to my motivations for running for Vice President. I want TWS to be considered an essential professional resource for all wildlife professionals. A recent survey of TWS members (Urbanek et al. 2018, WSB 42:4-12) suggested that members are less active in TWS and consider TWS less important to their careers than reflected in the 1991 survey. This concerns me. Wildlife professionals enter the field with core professional values that guide their career paths. It is important to identify the common threads that unite all wildlife professionals and nurture them within TWS. I believe this effort would enhance TWS’s relevance for all wildlife professionals, regardless of their educational background or career stage.

Read Mike Connor’s complete biographical sketch here.

Jason Riddle

We moved to the North Central Section about 16 years ago.  I am continually amazed at the work ethic, passion, and professionalism of Wildlifers in our Section. I’ve witnessed these qualities in our students as the Faculty Advisor to the Student Chapter at the University of Wisconsin – Stevens Point, in our members at the state-level as President of The Wisconsin Chapter, and across our entire Region as President and Section Representative of the North Central Section.

I’ve served on the North Central Section Executive Board for approximately 6 years (3 years in the executive succession of President-Elect, President, and Past President, and ~2.5 years as Section Representative). I believe we’ve been incredibly productive and effective as a Board. We’ve provided online services (such as webinars) to our members, allocated over 70 travel grants to professional meetings, piloted free student membership programs to students in our Section regardless of their membership status in other TWS units, and invested funds wisely.  Since being elected as Section Representative, I’ve served on the following Council committees: Awards, Fellows, Diversity, Position Statements, and Policy. I’m now the Chair of the Policy Committee.  I also was able to participate in the Strategic Planning Process. I LOVE THIS WORK! I believe our Section has made positive contributions to TWS as a whole and our Section is one of the most active in bringing action items and recommendations to Council. I would be honored to be able to serve you in a second term in this position. 

Read Jason Riddle’s complete biographical sketch here.

Chad Bishop

I am motivated to run for the Northwest Section Representative to TWS Council as a way to give back to the Society that has been instrumental in my professional development as a student and professional. I believe I am now in a position where I can effectively represent TWS members across the Northwest Section as a member on Council, having accumulated leadership experience through service on the Executive Boards of both Montana and Colorado Chapters of TWS and through service on various TWS committees over the past 25 years. I have also gained valuable insights from holding leadership positions at both a university (University of Montana) and state wildlife agency (Colorado Parks and Wildlife). 

If elected, I would be committed to representing the voices of professionals and students across the Northwest Section on TWS Council. Additionally, I would make a point to work in concert with the NW Section Executive Board to help strengthen member involvement at the section level, which is challenging given the large, complex geography. 

More broadly, I believe The Wildlife Society is as important now as ever given the threats to species conservation in North America, especially as science has become increasingly politicized. I believe wildlife conservation and management must continually be informed by strong science (both biological and social) and implemented through meaningful collaboration and partnership.  I further believe TWS must continue to exercise leadership in concert with academia and employers to promote a more diverse workforce that is representative of the society we serve. 

Read Chad Bishop’s complete biographical sketch here.

Jim Sedinger

I believe science is fundamental to effective management but science is often not effectively communicated from scientists to managers, policy makers and the public. The Wildlife Society is the premier professional organization for both scientists and managers. As such TWS and its members are in a unique position to improve the flow of information, as recognized by recent articles in The Journal of Wildlife Management. Increasing human population and increasing demand for natural resources, however, are placing increasing stress on many wildlife populations. Additionally, increasing urbanization is reducing the experience of citizens with nature. These changes are placing additional pressure on the state and federal agencies responsible for conservation and management of wildlife and their habitats. These changes have immediate practical effects, such as reduced numbers of hunters and associated declining budgets for state and federal agencies responsible for management and conservation. But the declining exposure of the public to our wildlands also has less direct impacts. For example, a significant segment of the public has unrealistic expectations about the ability of public lands to support the exploding populations of free-roaming horses without negative impacts on native species. Our country is rapidly becoming increasingly diverse, yet the wildlife profession has not been particularly successful at increasing the diversity within its ranks. Improving diversity is critical to the success of our profession as we move forward. The Wildlife Society is in a unique position to address these challenges, which is essential to the effective conservation of our wildlife resources.     

Read Jim Sedinger’s complete biographical sketch here.

Extirpated otter confirmed in Malaysian nature reserve

July 9, 2025 by The Wildlife Society

Scientists have confirmed a sighting of a rare otter that they thought had been extirpated from Malaysia for more than a decade. The International Union for Conservation of Nature considers the Eurasian otter (Lutra lutra) near threatened, but the animals are incredibly rare in Southeast Asia. After more than a decade without detecting the otter in that region, scientists confirmed a sighting of an individual in Tangkulap Forest Reserve on the island of Borneo. The country’s three other otter species also live in this reserve, and the new sighting will elevate the reserve’s protection level, according to Panthera, a global cat conservation organization. “The discovery of the fourth species in Tangkulap indicates the habitat is abundant in prey and serves as a safe refuge—potentially for many other wildlife species as well. It is essential to conserve these species, especially in the face of habitat fragmentation,” said Chee Yoong from the Malaysia Otter Network and the IUCN SSC Otter Specialist Group, in a press release.

Read more at Panthera.

New York state opens new viewing sites on birding trail

July 8, 2025 by The Wildlife Society

The New York State Department of Environmental Conservation has announced the expansion of its state birding trail, adding 12 new sites that provide quality viewing. The New York State Birding Trail now has 402 sites, and the new additions sit in the Finger Lakes to the Hudson Valley region. “The New York State Birding Trail provides enjoyable, affordable opportunities for all New Yorkers, regardless of age, ability, identity or background, to have access to locations to experience the joy of watching birds,” said New York State Department of Environmental Conservation Commissioner Amanda Lefton in a press release. “With hundreds of visiting and resident bird species to observe this summer—including songbirds, waterfowl and birds of prey—there is a spot on the birding trail for everyone to experience all New York has to offer.”

Read more at the New York Department of Environmental Conservation.

The July/August issue of The Wildlife Professional

July 7, 2025 by The Wildlife Society

The Wildlife Professional is an exclusive benefit of membership in The Wildlife Society. Published six times annually, the magazine presents timely research news and analysis of trends in the wildlife profession.

Don’t miss another issue! Join today to start receiving The Wildlife Professional in your mailbox and all the other great benefits of TWS membership.

Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) and Tribal Colleges and Universities (TCUs) offer students from different backgrounds a chance to excel in the wildlife profession. But the students attending these schools also have a lot to share with the rest of the wildlife profession, including their cultural knowledge woven through their research. In the July/August issue of The Wildlife Professional, we explore the history of HBCUs and TCUs and delve into the many perspectives of students and professors at those institutions, including the benefit of finding mentors and enjoying intimate, personalized learning. We also look at the challenges that persist at these schools, like underfunding.

Our special focus for this issue examines the North American Model of Wildlife Conservation, also referred to as the NAM. Some people are questioning the relevance of the model with origins in the 19th century.

Watch for the issue in your mailbox, or log in and check it out online.

Wandering black rhinos less likely to inbreed

July 7, 2025 by The Wildlife Society

Black rhinos often live protected lives in fenced enclosures that keep them safe from poaching. But research reveals that letting them roam freely might protect them from the inbreeding that plagues the often sparse and fragmented populations. The International Union for Conservation of Nature considers the eastern black rhinoceros (Diceros bicornis michaeli) critically endangered due to poaching for food and parts—especially their ivory horns. To protect these dwindling populations, managers keep many eastern black rhinos behind fenced reserves. Researchers who published their findings recently in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences found that this measure, meant to protect the animals from poaching, may be harming their genetic diversity. The research, conducted in Tanzania, found that allowing them to roam more freely is better for population health and survival than translocating individuals to try to introduce new genetic diversity into small populations. “Translocations can bring in new genetic variants, but they may also introduce hidden genetic risks that build up in captivity,” said Barbara Mable, a professor of evolutionary genetics at the University of Glasgow and the lead author of the study. “Translocations are often very expensive and risky operations,” added Philbert Ngoti, Tanzania’s Rhino Coordinator and co-author of the study. “While they are a useful approach, this research has shown that rhinos do best when they have space to live and move in natural ways.”

Read more at the University of Glasgow.

New Private Lands Working Group takes off

July 3, 2025 by Krysten Zummo

At the 2024 TWS Annual Conference last year in Baltimore, Maryland, a group of TWS members convened for the first time to discuss how The Wildlife Society could better support wildlife professionals working on private lands in North America. Unsure if there would be enough support and interest for a full working group, organizers were cautious in promising a new working group as an outcome.

The meeting was standing room only.

Wildlife professionals from different sectors—nonprofits, federal and state agencies, foundations, academia, working lands and nonworking lands—spent the dedicated hour discussing the challenges and opportunities for the future for private lands conservation. Adequate training, public perception, communication skills, funding and outdated policies were common themes throughout the group. It was clear that there was a need within TWS for a place to work through these issues and, even better, there was a group of TWS members willing and wanting to create that space.

Since the conference, this group of TWS members continues to meet. In fact, The Wildlife Society officially granted the group interim status as the Private Lands Working Group in March.

The group has already started strategic planning efforts to identify its goals and objectives. Overall, the group decided to focus on identifying knowledge and training gaps for wildlife professionals that will improve relationships and outcomes for wildlife conservation on private lands.

The Private Lands Working Group is hosting the “Research, Management and Education on Private Lands: Innovative Methods for the Future of Wildlife” symposium at the 2025 TWS Conference in Edmonton, Alberta, this fall.

If you would like to learn more about the working group or to get involved, please contact Interim Chair Krysten Zummo at kzummo11@gmail.com. You can also join the working group through TWS’ member portal.

2025 Publications Awards Winners announced

July 2, 2025 by The Wildlife Society

The winners of TWS’ 2025 publication awards include information about population biology, wildlife disease and health, American woodcock life history, using mathematical models to gain insights on biological phenomena and more.

Here are the publications and authors that took this year’s prizes.

John Vucetich won the award for authored book for his publication The Biology and Conservation of Animal Populations. Vucetich’s textbook approaches the complex mathematics of population biology through practical examples and case studies.

Richard Sale and Steve Watson took home the honorable mention for this category for their book, The Peregrine Falcon.  

David Jessup and Robin Radcliffe earned the best edited book award for their book, Wildlife Disease and Health in Conservation. This publication combines theory and practice to explore the origins and impacts of the wildlife diseases that are most pressing today. The book covers wildlife diseases from a diversity of taxa and the social, legal, financial and political factors that influence how conservation and public health strategies are approached.

Slezak et al. earned the award for best journal paper for their article, Unconventional life history in a migratory shorebird: desegregating reproduction and migration. In this paper, the team documented the first-ever direct evidence of ‘itinerant breeding’ in a migratory bird, the American woodcock (Scolopax minor). Based on GPS tracking of more than 200 female American woodcocks, they found that more than 80% nested more than once—up to six times.

For this category, the runner-up was Must we lose our biological connection to nature to endure changing times? by Joel Berger, Vernon Bleich and R Terry Bowyer.

The article, Using piecewise regression to identify biological phenomena, earned David Wolfson, David Andersen and John Fieberg the best student paper award. In this paper, the authors demonstrate how piecewise regression can be used to identify the presence and timing of different events in wildlife, including the behavior of trumpeter swans (Cygnus buccinator) and pregnant moose (Alces alces) as well as the spike in heart rate of a black bear (Ursus americanus).

The honorable mention for best student paper was awarded to Kristin Engebretsen, Clark Rushing, Darren DeBloois and Julie Young for their paper Increased maternal care improves neonate survival in a solitary carnivore.