Flying foxes are part of our environment
Photo © WPSQWildlife Queensland has urged the Queensland Government to use all its resources to find the real cause of Hendra virus.
'Wildlife Queensland sends condolences to the family and friends of the vet Dr Rogers,' said Des Boyland, spokesperson for Wildlife Queensland today.
'We encourage the full use of Government resources to get to the root of this disease before there is any more tragic waste of life,' Mr Boyland said.
'We would like to see more positive advances in finding the true cause of Hendra virus and its route of transmission to horses,'added Mr Boyland.
'Calling for the culling of flying foxes is pointless retribution.'
'Wiping out a native species that is part of our natural biodiversity doesn’t solve the issue.'
'We understand that the route of transmission to horses is still not known despite extensive research into flying-foxes.'
'The only proven transmission route at this time is from horses to humans,' said Mr Boyland.
Flying-foxes are a natural host of Hendra virus (HeV) but spillover of the virus to horses still seems to be a rare event.
Little is known about the disease and there appears to be no confirmed evidence on how flying-foxes pass the disease to horses according to Queensland Primary Industries & Fisheries and Queensland Health.
The manifestation of the virus in flying-foxes has been attributed to stress brought about by overclearing of their natural habitat.
'This disease seems to have occurred only since the advent of extensive overclearing of vegetation,' said Mr Boyland.
Flying-foxes are protected native fauna under the Nature Conservation Act.
Many species of important trees – especially eucalypts, gums and tea-trees – rely on flying-foxes for pollination. Flying-foxes also disperse rainforest tree seeds.
Flying-foxes are disease-free compared to many other animals: they do not scavenge on the ground for their food and they eat relatively clean foods such as fruits, nectar and pollen.
For more information on Wildlife Queensland's activities, call us on +61 7 3221 0194 or send us an email. |
