Rehabilitation Centre (Inc.)FLU IN BOBTAIL SKINKS (SHINGLEBACKS)
Incidence
| YEAR |
TOTAL
NUMBER OF BOBTAILS ADMITTED |
NUMBER OF LIZARDS WITH FLU |
NUMBER OF FLU CASES RELEASED AFTER TREATMENT |
| 1998 |
78 |
22 |
14 (64%) |
| 1999 |
75 |
21 |
16 (76%) |
| 2000 |
88 |
24 |
14 (58%) |
| 2001 |
95 |
39 |
25 (64%) |
| 2002 |
152 |
74 |
62 (85%) |
2003 |
122 |
52 |
45 (86%) |
2004 |
205 |
87 (42.4%) |
76 (87%) |
Flu affected Bobtails admitted to Kanyana
Media releases, educational talks and newsletters from Kanyana and Zanthorrea Nursery, as well as networking through the Wildlife Carers’ Consultation group have raised public awareness of the “bobtail flu”. It was thought that the increase in the number of bobtails admitted to care was due to this new awareness however as the numbers dropped in 2003, that doesn’t seem to be true.
The general public are quite concerned about the plight of the bobtail and consequently we now see more cases that are in the early stages and these respond more favourably to treatment - 86% of URTI bobtails recovered and were released in 2003. End stage cases are euthanased on humane grounds as they fail to respond to treatment and eventually die by suffocation.
Legislation passed in 2003 allowed people in WA to own native reptiles including the bobtail. Now this disease not only affects wildlife but the pet trade and veterinary care of pet reptiles in WA as well as interstate when lizards are bought and sold to enthusiasts around the country. Already, a person in Queensland has reported that a bobtail purchased from WA, became ill with flu symptoms.
The Lotterywest Bobtail Conservation Grant of $64,000 was awarded to Kanyana in January 2004 for
- Kanyana to purchase improved housing and equipment to cope with the large numbers of URTI bobtails admitted.
- Curtin University to carry out an ecological study on the bobtail to determine the impact of the disease on the bobtail and western bluetongue lizard populations.
- Pathology to investigate the aetiology of the disease, carried out by Murdoch University, to shed light on how to best treat the animals.
Blood samples were taken from the tail vein of hospitalised bobtails at
Kanyana by Murdoch researchers in March and May 2004.
There have been 95 bobtail admissions in the first 6 months of 2004, 21 of these were born at Kanyana to sick mothers; 10 stillborn and 11 live and healthy. Two mothers died while giving birth and caesarean sections were performed. One had quads (very rare in bobtails) that were unable to be revived and the other had triplets of which two were revived and have been soft-released and remain in good health. The high mortality of newborns could adversely affect the recovery of this species.
There appears to be a significant and concerning problem in the bobtail population.
