75th Celebration: Wildlife Under the Microscope

Imagine, thousands of dead waterfowl on American Falls Reservoir. Bighorn sheep falling sick in Hells Canyon. Dead deer scattered across fields in North Idaho. Toads and salamanders dying in several ponds. Ailing fish struggling in a hatchery raceway. Why is this happening? What is going on? These images provide a glimpse of the intriguing and sometime distressing facets of fish and wildlife health and forensic work. Investigating the illnesses and crime scenes fall to Idaho Fish and Game's health laboratories. Laboratory staff conduct live animal health assessments, necropsies to determine cause of death, forensics to analyze evidence for enforcement purposes and genetic research. The Wildlife Health-Forensic Lab routinely monitors the health of all wildlife handled in Idaho and provides cause of death assessments for many unknown or suspicious wildlife mortalities around the state. The program began back in the 1970's with a single biologist and wildlife technician attempting to discern age and health status of different species, while also providing Conservation Officers with tools to help them do their jobs better. Over the past thirty years, the Wildlife Health-Forensic Lab has evolved into a more comprehensive program with a wildlife veterinarian, forensic biologist, health technologist and technician. When fish show signs of being sick, the Eagle Fish Health Laboratory is on the scene. This lab covers state hatcheries and waterways for all potential disease causing agents that can affect fish. Everything from bacteria and viruses to parasites are identified at the lab; treatments are then recommended by fish pathologists. Fish in artificial environments, like hatcheries, are more vulnerable to diseases and are constantly monitored by the Fish Health Lab. The guiding strategy is that prevention is the best defense against the introduction and transmission of diseases among fish. Diagnostic tools available to both the fish and wildlife labs have evolved dramatically in recent years. DNA and RNA testing has become a common practice in identifying pathogens involved in disease and analyzing forensic evidence for enforcement cases. For more on this story and other 75th Celebration pieces, go to http://fishandgame.idaho.gov/75th.