Hawaiian Monk Seal Health
HONOLULU: CWS Wildlife Veterinarian Tristan Burgess travelled to Hawaii this week to discuss one of the more complex and thorny issues in wildlife conservation. What to do when a beloved pet and an endangered, highly charismatic marine mammal come into conflict. Over a parasite from poop.
Toxoplasma gondii is a ubiquitous parasite that finds a home in hundreds of species, on land and sea, from the topics to the poles, but each parasite ultimately can be traced back to a cat. From the humble house cat to the sumatran tiger, all felids can potentially shed this parasite. If the parasite infects a rodent, it may actually make the unsuspecting mouse lose some of its innate fear of cats, helping the parasite complete its lifecycle. If it finds its way to a less common host, one not adapted over the course of its evolutionary history to dealing with this parasite - the consequences may be severe. This is true in several marine mammal species.
Tristan spent several years at the University of California, Davis writing his PhD dissertation, in large part studying the causes and effects of Toxoplasma infection in sea otters. So when the same parasite began to infect and kill the endangered Hawaiian monk seal, he was on the list of Toxo experts who got the call from NOAA’s Monk Seal Research Program to travel to Hawaii and discuss how we can increase our understanding of the transmission of this parasite in a population of rare and unique seals in the Hawaiian islands.
We have been studying this parasite in sea otters for many years and have a pretty good understanding of how the key pieces of the puzzle work, but we are just beginning that journey with the Hawaiian monk seal. We are in the planning stages of some new cutting edge work aimed at applying the lessons learned studying Toxoplasma in places like California to the Hawaiian islands ecosystem. Our ultimate goal is to work out how to reduce the threat to this unique species. Meanwhile our colleagues at NOAA and The Marine Mammal Center are working tirelessly to save infected individuals and come up with successful treatment plans. Every seal counts.
Read more about the workshop, or Hawaiian Monk Seal Research Program.