Wildlife Health Center, UC Davis

A new paper recently published in Aquatic Mammals examines migration and foraging behavior of southern elephant seals from a new and growing colony in Tierra del Fuego, at the very tip of South America.

Over the years, our Latin America Program director Dr. Marcela Uhart has been responsible for the safe immobilization of elephant seals for deployment of transmitters and other studies for this research.

We are a proud member of the Oiled Wildlife Care Network (OWCN), a statewide network of organizations committed to providing the best capture and care for oil-affected wildlife in California.

Throughout the year, members of our team participate in specialized OWCN trainings and preparedness exercises, building and maintaining the skills and experience needed to respond when wildlife needs us most.

That commitment to preparedness is being put into action during the ongoing oiled wildlife response efforts in the Los Angeles area, where trained OWCN responders from our organization have joined fellow responders from across the state to support wildlife recovery, care, and rehabilitation efforts.

We stand alongside our fellow member organizations in this collaborative effort and grateful for the dedication of the teams making this work possible.

The OWCN has been activated by Office of Spill Prevention and Response - OSPR for a release of crude oil that entered storm drains and subsequently flowed into the Los Angeles River. Oiled birds have been collected from the area by trained OWCN responders from UC Davis, Aquarium of the Pacific, and International Bird Rescue. The birds have been transported to the Los Angeles Oiled Bird Care & Education Center where additional OWCN responders are providing initial care prior to cleaning.

If you see oiled wildlife, please do NOT approach or attempt to capture, but call our hotline at 1-877-UCD-OWCN (1-877-823-6926) so that trained and experienced personnel can respond.

As highly pathogenic avian influenza (H5N1) continues impacting wildlife globally, some of the world’s most endangered seabirds, including albatrosses and petrels, face growing risk.

Spearheaded by Latin America Program scientist Dr. Ralph Vanstreels, a new publication in Biodiversity Data Journal introduces the first openly accessible global database focused specifically on H5N1 outbreaks in these species.

Developed through the Agreement on the Conservation of Albatrosses and Petrels (ACAP), this resource helps researchers, governments, conservation teams, and other decision-makers around the world track and respond to the rapidly evolving impacts of H5N1 across remote marine ecosystems.

Image description: Two gray and brown birds looking at each other with a gray sky background.

New research from the UC Davis Karen C. Drayer Wildlife Health Center’s Latin America Program and the University at Buffalo shows that Magellanic penguins can act as living environmental sentinels using small silicone bands that detect chemical pollutants while the birds forage at sea.

The idea began with inspiration from UC Davis Native American Studies professor Beth Rose Middleton Manning, who uses silicone wristbands to measure environmental toxin exposure in tribal communities. After hearing her talk, Latin America Program director Dr. Marcela Uhart began exploring whether a similar approach could work for wildlife. That led to a collaboration with researchers at the University at Buffalo, who were using silicone bands to study childhood exposure to metals, pesticides, and other neurotoxins.

Project scientist Dr. Ralph Vanstreels then adapted the technology for penguins. He designed and tested prototype bands at the São Paulo Aquarium to ensure they would not bother the birds or be removed by their powerful beaks, and later led the field work in Patagonia where the study was conducted.

In the proof-of-concept study, researchers fitted 54 Magellanic penguins in Argentina with silicone leg bands that absorb chemicals from the environment while the birds forage at sea. Unlike invasive sampling of blood or feathers, which mainly reflects toxins animals ingest through their diet, the silicone bands capture chemicals present in the environment itself, offering a broader picture of pollution in marine ecosystems that are otherwise difficult to sample.

It’s a powerful example of One Health thinking in action: ideas developed to understand environmental health risks in human communities can also help protect wildlife and ocean ecosystems.

Learn more ⬇️

Penguin ‘Toxicologists’ Find PFAS Chemicals in Remote Patagonia Penguins can serve as living monitors of their environment by using small, chemical-detecting leg bands, according to a study from UC Davis and SUNY-Buffalo.

What does it take to become a wildlife veterinarian? For veterinary student Victoria Priester (Cornell University College of Veterinary Medicine DVM '26), it meant spending weeks alongside wildlife veterinarians, pathologists, and biologists through our Wildlife Externship program.

Victoria experienced the reality of wildlife medicine by joining wildlife veterinarians and pathologists across California to investigate disease, assist with field responses, and see firsthand how science guides decisions for free-ranging wildlife.

A product of our longstanding partnership with California Department of Fish and Wildlife, this externship gives veterinary students from around the country a unique exposure to the real-world challenges of wildlife health, creating a pipeline for the next generation of wildlife health leaders.

Meet the Wildlife Health Extern Victoria Priester, a fourth-year veterinary student at Cornell University, has wanted to be a veterinarian for as long as she can remember. Growing up in the Maryland suburbs outside Washington, DC, she spent much of her time working on a horse farm in Maryland during high school. She also has deep....

As scientists work to understand the recent detection of highly pathogenic avian influenza (H5N1) in northern elephant seals at Año Nuevo State Park, two OHI experts traveled from Argentina to assist with surveillance efforts along the California coast.

Dr. Marcy Uhart, Director of the Latin America Program at our Karen C. Drayer Wildlife Health Center, and project scientist Dr. Ralph Vanstreels brought critical experience to this response. Dr. Uhart also serves as Chair of the OFFLU Steering Committee, an international network coordinated by WOAH and FAO that brings together experts to improve global understanding, scientific guidance, and response to influenza in animals, including wildlife.

In 2023, Drs. Uhart and Vanstreels helped investigate one of the most devastating wildlife disease events on record at Peninsula Valdés, Argentina, where H5N1 killed more than 17,000 southern elephant seals, including 97% of that year’s pups at a major breeding colony.

Last week, they worked alongside UC Davis colleagues and collaborators to support ongoing monitoring and investigation efforts following the detection of H5N1 in elephant seal pups at Año Nuevo State Park in San Mateo County.

Leading experts from UC Davis and UC Santa Cruz, alongside key partners, have been monitoring seabirds and marine mammals along the California coast since 2024 to track emerging disease threats.

This collaboration reflects the power of a One Health approach, bringing together expertise from around the world to better understand and respond to threats affecting wildlife, ecosystems, and public health.

Learn more at: pandemicinsights.ucdavis.edu/h5-marine-outbreak

A new study led by UC Davis Weill School of Veterinary Medicine graduate student Lizzy Ashley brings together an international team of scientists to examine the worldwide impact of H5N1 avian influenza on seals and sea lions.

Among the co-authors are Karen C. Drayer Wildlife Health Center veterinary scientists Drs. Ralph Vanstreels and Marcela Uhart, key collaborators whose work has been critical to understanding outbreaks in South America and beyond.

The study steps back to assess the global scale of impact and outlines what comes next:
- Strengthening wildlife health monitoring
- Improving how we track and characterize risk
- Building resilience in affected populations

It also underscores the urgency of protecting vulnerable species not yet impacted, like the endangered Hawaiian monk seal and Galápagos sea lion.

Read more:

Global Strategies to Protect Seals and Sea Lions from Avian Influenza When the H5N1 highly pathogenic avian influenza virus was discovered on a poultry farm in Asia in 1996, there was little indication that it would become so widespread and so destructive. Within 30 years, it reached every continental region except Oceania, infecting more than 400 million poultry, ten...