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HPAI wild birds North America
Generalized ecology of avian-origin influenza A (AI) viruses showing common directionality of cross-species transmission events, including those for highly pathogenic (HP) phenotypes. Reprinted from the Journal of Wildlife Management (2022) with permission.

Highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI): An emerging disease threat in North America

By Andrew M. Ramey and Colleen M. Handel, U.S. Geological Survey Linked paper: Highly pathogenic avian influenza is an emerging disease threat to wild birds in North America by A. M. Ramey, N. J. Hill, T. J. DeLiberto, S. E. J. Gibbs, M. C. Hopkins, A. S. Lang, R. L. Poulson, D. J. Prosser, J. …

goose flock
A large flock of snow geese during spring migration in North Dakota. Photo by Craig Bihrle, North Dakota Game and Fish Department.

Lifting Hunting Limits Hasn’t Solved the Snow Goose Overpopulation Problem

As many marshes along the Gulf Coast were drained in the late 1970s, Snow Geese that had used them as wintering areas began shifting to agricultural land instead. Leftover crops in farm fields provided them with a generous new winter and spring diet, and the population began growing at an unprecedented rate. While they have ample habitat in the south, the growing number of geese, coupled with their destructive foraging behaviors, has led to increasing and widespread habitat destruction in the Arctic coastal habitats where they breed.