Protection of Human Health and Safety 



ADC has been active in its role to protect human health and 

 safety through the control of animal-borne diseases and 

 wildlife hazards to aircraft. We have removed a number of 

 dangerous animals, such as black bears and mountain lions, 

 from public areas. ADC biologists assist State and local 

 health departments in controlling animals in areas where 

 wildlife disease outbreaks threaten public health. We also 

 conduct programs at airports, where collisions between 

 wildlife and aircraft pose a serious safety hazard to 

 passengers. 



Public Safety 



On December 10, 1994, a woman hiking in Cuyamaca State 

 Park about 25 miles east of San Diego, CA, was killed by a 

 mountain lion. Park officials immediately requested the 

 California Fish and Game Department and ADC to assist in 

 locating the lion. ADC recommended that a deer carcass be 

 placed at the location of the kill to hold the suspected lion in 

 the area until the lion could be captured. The carcass was 

 fitted with a transmitter which would activate if the carcass 

 was moved. About 30 minutes after the carcass was 

 placed, the transmitter emitted a signal, indicating that the 

 lion had returned. ADC personnel used trailing hounds and 

 treed a mature male lion near the site. The lion was killed, 

 and subsequent examination of tooth spacing and human 

 DNA confirmed that the animal was responsible for the 

 attack on the woman. 



In February 1995, ADC, the State of Texas, and Rhone 

 Merieux, Inc., worked together to distribute 850,000 oral 

 vaccine/bait units aerially across a 14,400-mi2 target area in 

 south Texas. ADC personnel later collected approximately 

 500 coyotes throughout the vaccine/bait drop area to 

 provide to labs in Texas, Georgia, and Ontario, Canada, for 

 testing to determine what percentage of the coyotes had 

 consumed the baits and to test blood titers from the coyotes 

 that ingested the vaccines. Initial results indicated that 42 

 percent of the coyotes that consumed at least one bait 

 showed a response to the vaccine. Further bait drops are 

 scheduled for early 1996 and will be expanded to include 

 areas in west-central Texas where there is presently a 

 rabies outbreak in foxes. 



ADC personnel met with environmental engineers at the 

 New York City Supply Reservoir during 1 995 regarding 

 contamination of the city's water supply by gulls. Fecal 

 deposits from gulls using the system's final-stage treatment 

 reservoir resulted in unacceptable levels of coliform 

 bacteria. The reservoir provides water for the entire New 

 York City area. ADC assisted by developing a harassment 

 plan to augment wire grid structures recommended to deter 

 incoming gulls. 



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ADC Program Highlights, 1995 A 1 



