wildfire

Rhesus macaques naturally exposed to wildfire smoke early in pregnancy had an increased rate of miscarriage, according to new research from the California National Primate Research Center at UC Davis.

More than six months after being severely burned in California’s North Complex Fire, a cat treated at the UC Davis veterinary hospital has finally fully recovered and found his forever home. In the fall of 2020, thousands of animals were affected by the fire, and Jam, an approximately 2-year-old male cat, suffered some of the most horrific injuries of any of them.

Since the scope of recent fires in the west is unprecedented, the full impact on ecosystems and populations will not be understood for months to years to come.

The UC Davis veterinary hospital has treated hundreds of animals over the years that were burned in wildfires. Every year, there is at least one that everyone at the hospital remembers. This year, one of the most memorable was Ned, a semi-feral cat who was rescued from the property he calls home a few days after the LNU Lightning Complex Fire swept through and destroyed everything. This week, Ned was finally discharged after being hospitalized for three months.

Earlier this week, the UC Davis School of Veterinary Medicine and the California Department of Fish and Wildlife announced the joint formation of the Wildlife Disaster Network. The network is already aiding several animals injured in California’s latest wildfires. Network teams throughout Northern California are treating about a dozen animals at various facilities.

The Wildlife Disaster Network is a new partnership between the UC Davis School of Veterinary Medicine and California Department of Fish and Wildlife. It aims to quickly and efficiently mobilize the people and resources needed to aid wildlife affected by wildfire and other disasters.

An orphaned mountain lion cub is at the Oakland Zoo recovering from burn injuries after being rescued from California's Zogg Fire. The zoo staff is working with the UC Davis Veterinary Hospital to treat the cub's wounds.

Wildfires burned across the Western U.S. in August and September, killing at least 35 people and destroying more than 5,800 buildings. Veterinarians on emergency response teams treated injured animals, helped find and evacuate those in danger, and monitored animals staying on pastures after their owners evacuated.

With the assistance of faculty mentors, John Madigan and Lais Costa, fourth-year student Hayley Dieckmann published “Implementation of an Animal Health Database in Response to the 2018 California Camp Fire,” which appears in this month’s Journal of the American Veterinary Medical Association.

Cats who suffered burns and smoke inhalation in recent California wildfires also had a high incidence of heart problems, according to a new study from researchers at the University of California, Davis, Veterinary Medical Teaching Hospital. The study represents the first published research to come from the UC Davis School of Veterinary Medicine on feline victims of California wildfires and was recently published in the journal Scientific Reports.