Date:
November 11, 2015
Source:
University of Georgia
People
feeding white ibises at public parks are turning the normally independent birds
into beggars, and now researchers at the University of Georgia say it might
also be helping spread disease.
They
recently launched a study to find out how being fed by humans is changing the
health, ecology and behavior of white ibises in south Florida, where
construction and land development is drying up their wetland habitats.
The
birds normally feed on aquatic animals like fish, snails and crayfish, but they
are now becoming accustomed to being fed items such as bread, fast food and
popcorn by people at parks, said Sonia Hernandez, an associate professor with
joint appointments in UGA's Warnell School of Forestry and Natural Resources
and College of Veterinary Medicine.
This
shift in feeding behavior could have serious consequences not just for the
white ibises, she said, but also to people.
"In
a previous study, and using molecular typing methods, we found that the strains
of salmonella bacteria that white ibises are infected with are the same that
some people get sick from, particularly in Florida," Hernandez said.
"Because white ibises move from urban to natural environments readily,
they might be responsible for moving these strains around over large
distances."
Hernandez
is working with other UGA researchers on the five-year, $2.1 million project,
funded by the National Science Foundation's Ecology and Evolution of Infectious
Diseases Program. Their findings could apply to other wildlife species that
have grown cozy with humans at public parks and other human-altered landscapes,
she said.
Other
researchers on the project are Jeff Hepinstall-Cymerman, an associate professor
in the Warnell School; Sonia Altizer, a professor, and Richard Hall, an
assistant research scientist, both in the Odum School of Ecology; and Kristen
Navara, an associate professor in the College of Agricultural and Environmental
Sciences.
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