The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has received a report submitted by the Auburn University College of Veterinary Medicine concerning the deaths of birds at the Southeastern Raptor Center.
The Service is coordinating a review of the six-page report with experts in the field. The goal is to provide the Center with the best guidance to help handle the outbreak of Mycoplasma Gallisepticum (MG), both for the Center, as well as the wild bird population.
The Service expects to provide additional guidance to Auburn by early September, if not sooner. We will continue to keep the public informed about this issue.
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is the principal federal agency responsible for conserving, protecting and enhancing fish, wildlife and plants and their habitats for the continuing benefit of the American people. The Service manages the 95-million-acre National Wildlife Refuge System, which encompasses 542 national wildlife refuges, thousands of small wetlands and other special management areas. It also operates 69 national fish hatcheries, 64 fishery resource offices and 81 ecological services field stations. The agency enforces federal wildlife laws, administers the Endangered Species Act, manages migratory bird populations, restores nationally significant fisheries, conserves and restores wildlife habitat such as wetlands, and helps foreign governments with their conservation efforts. It also oversees the Federal Aid program that distributes hundreds of millions of dollars in excise taxes on fishing and hunting equipment to state fish and wildlife agencies.
