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Figure 2 from PNAS paper: Distemper, extinction, and vaccination of the Amur tiger

For more than a year, the world has closely followed the development, approval and deployment of various coronavirus vaccines that could bring an end to the global pandemic, debating every side effect and hurdle. But vaccines aren’t only used to spare humans from the ravages of disease; increasingly, they’re being used to conserve wild species threatened with extinction.
Elephant standing next to fence

KAZA Ten Years On: World’s largest terrestrial transfrontier conservation area requires true habitat connectivity, as explained in a letter to Science by Cornell’s Dr. Steve Osofsky and WWF Namibia’s Dr. Russell Taylor.
Krysten Schuler with bear cub courteys of The Wildlife Society news thumbnail

Ten longtime TWS members have been named TWS Fellows for 2021, including Cornell's Dr. Krysten Schuler. The TWS Fellows Award is given out each year to individuals who have “distinguished themselves through exceptional service” to the profession and have been members of the Society for at least 10 years.
A camel being attended to by a vet in hazmat suit

Cornell's Dr. Steve Osofsky and colleagues reemphasize that a One Health approach is urgently needed to prevent future pandemics — simultaneously addressing human, animal and ecosystem health — protecting humanity and nature.
An African elephant with birds hitching a ride coming towards the photographer

Announcement

Our Beyond Fences program in southern Africa has been awarded a three-year grant from WWF to help facilitate greater collaboration between the wildlife and livestock sectors to resolve previously intractable conflicts between animal disease regulatory needs and transfrontier conservation area objectives.
Nurdles-plastic gravel by Barbara Agnew

One word: nurdles. Nurdles are plastic pellets, approximately the size and shape of lentils or split peas. Nurdles are manufactured, and then shipped to companies across the planet to be made into other things — other plastic things....
A male dhole scans the forest to look for prey by Anish Andheria

Cornell's Dr. Martin Gilbert discusses how infectious disease likely represents an important threat for endangered dhole populations and that such diseases could even be capable of causing local extinctions.
Rod Getchell shwon working at a microscope

Announcement

We are proud to announce that funding for the Aquatic Animal Health Program has been renewed by the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation for a 5-year period.
Orphaned beaver by Carol Jennings/Cornell Vet spotlight video thumbnail

A litter of beaver kits traversed more of New York state than most of their species will ever cross in a lifetime. This group of five traveled from the Adirondacks to Western New York, and from there to the Finger Lakes and back in their brief but eventful five weeks of life.
Sheep being loaded onto trucks from the sale yards. Australia, 2013, by Jo-Anne McArthur

The COVID-19 pandemic is the latest reminder that human interactions with the animal world are fraught with danger. Dr. Steve Osofsky describes how he would like to see an international treaty that mitigates human activities that create opportunities for animal viruses to infect humans.