Many of you have voted in support of Mona Rutger and Back to the Wild in
Animal Planet's Hero of the Year contest.  The winner will be announced  tomorrow
night (Wed, Nov 1) at 10:00 PM on the Animal Planet network.  In  the public
voting portion of this contest, Mona received twice the number of  votes as
her nearest competitor, but that only counted for 25% of the judging  criteria.
We do know that Wednesday's program will definitely  include footage from
Back to the Wild, and we are keeping our fingers crossed  for Mona.  The $10,000
prize money will cover almost a full month of  operating expenses for BTTW and
will be greatly appreciated.

Some have questioned the value of wildlife rehabilitators, but in addition
to caring for injured animals (which are often the result of human  activities)
and educating the public about wildlife and the need for habitat
preservation, these facilities are also providing a wealth of scientific data  that would
otherwise be very difficult to obtain.

Back to the Wild, along with the other rehabilitation centers, is
collaborating in an ongoing study of the waterfowl and other birds of the Lake  Erie
bioregion to study the ecology of avian influenza viruses at the  human/avian
interface.  Dr. Richard Slemons, an OSU veterinarian, is the  primary
investigator.  He has worked in the southern Lake Erie region for  20 years studying and
conducting surveillance of avian influenza viruses in wild  birds.  He has
enlisted the help of rehabilitators in obtaining cloacal and  oral swabs from
waterfowl and raptors to determine the presence of any of the  many strains avian
influenza viruses (many of which cause only minor sickness or  no noticeable
symptoms in birds).

By testing the blood of the rehabilitators, his work will also exam the
wildlife/human interface and to determine whether people develop an immune
response to the low pathogenic avian influenza viruses with which they come in
contact but have no signs or symptoms of illness.  This study could prove  to be
an invaluable model in further understanding the complexities of all  influenza
viruses and interspecies transmission of these viruses.


If you have questions about these studies, please reply to me  personally.


Again, thanks to all of you who have supported Mona.  To learn more  about
Back to the Wild, or to contact Mona to schedule a tour of her facility,  go to
<backtothewild.org>   Since there is no source of public  funding for
rehabilitators, they are in constant need of our support.  If  you are searching for a
meaningful gift for someone this Christmas, consider  giving a donation in
their name to Back to the Wild or to a center in  your area.

Sheryl Young
Sandusky




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