Thursday 6 December 2012

Toxo and wombats - out of interest really

We have been doing a lot of work with wombats and toxoplasmosis over the years. More in the line of what it does to them and how come they behave in certain ways, ie behaviour, symptoms. Its a long story, too long for here as the papers are pages and pages long:). But in a nutshell, most animals do not survive toxo. It is spread by cats (feral cats in particular) and is basically everywhere.

The trend we are seeing over the years is that wombats do get very sick from it, don't get us wrong BUT they appear to have a higher survival rate than other native animals. However, they are left with ailments which would I would say ultimately lead to their death in the wild. Or it might explain why some very 'tame' wombats come into care who display some wild tendencies but yet remain calmer than you would expect.  So much more work to be done here. One of the ailments of a wombat who survives toxo is that they can be blind and brain damaged.

Another sign is a wombat's eyes. For example this little wombat. If you look at her eyes, they do not focus straight. Also her eyes are 'bulging' out, another classic sign they have been exposed to toxo. Her mother might have died of toxo, resulting in her being found and saved by Risha initially.

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