While most respondents to a survey of US backyard flock owners had heard of avian influenza, about one third didn’t know the signs or symptoms of infection in birds or people, highlighting the need for risk messaging and educational resources.
The online survey was conducted by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in collaboration with state and agricultural officials from July to December 2025. The aim was to learn more about flock owners and their knowledge, attitudes, and practices surrounding the H5 strain of avian flu that has affected millions of US poultry. Of 638 respondents, about half had an advanced degree.
Since 2024, three avian flu cases have been confirmed in people in the United States who own backyard birds, the authors noted.
The findings were published yesterday in Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report.
58% said someone in their home is high-risk
In total, 69% of respondents kept small flocks of mainly chickens, 71% indicated that they had no veterinarian to consult about their flock, and 54% said that wild birds could access their flock or its food or water. Respondents were generally experienced flock owners, with 29% having owned their flocks for at least 10 years, and 48% for three to 10 years.
Education of backyard flock owners by health partners regarding signs and symptoms of avian influenza can help flock owners keep their flocks, themselves, and their families healthy.
Although 94% of owners were aware of avian flu, one third didn’t know the signs or symptoms in birds or people. About 90% knew the recommended precautions to take when handling sick or dead birds and said they were willing to use some types of personal protective equipment (PPE). A higher level of knowledge about avian flu was tied to increased intent to use PPE.
In total, 58% of respondents said that at least one person in their household was at increased risk for flu complications because of age, pregnancy, or underlying conditions.
“Education of backyard flock owners by health partners regarding signs and symptoms of avian influenza can help flock owners keep their flocks, themselves, and their families healthy,” the researchers wrote.
BUFFALO, N.Y. — Erie County Executive Mark Poloncarz vetoed legislation Friday that would have allowed children ages 12 and 13 to hunt big game, including deer, under adult supervision
The county executive cited safety concerns despite no recent hunting-related child deaths reported in New York.
The law had been passed by the Erie County Legislature and would have expanded hunting access to younger participants under the supervision of a licensed adult.
In explaining his decision, Poloncarz said that while New York has not seen a death involving young hunters in recent years, deadly accidents involving children have occurred elsewhere. County legislators previously said they plan to seek a supermajority vote in an effort to override the veto.
“If they override this veto and a child dies in the future, my conscience will be clear knowing I did everything I could to try to prevent that tragedy,” Poloncarz said.
Press release from California Department of Fish and Wildlife:
California Department of Fish and Wildlife (CDFW) Director Meghan Hertel has assessed entanglement risk under the Risk Assessment Mitigation Program (RAMP) and announced a crab trap restriction in the recreational Dungeness crab fishery in Fishing Zone 3 (Sonoma/Mendocino County Line, 38°46.125′ N. Latitude to Pigeon Point, 37°11′ N. Latitude). This change, which will go into effect at 6 p.m. on May 22, 2026, is intended to minimize entanglement risk as humpback whales return to forage off the coast of California.
A crab trap restriction was implemented in Fishing Zones 4 and 5 (Pigeon Point to Point Conception, 34°27′ N Latitude) on March 27, 2026. CDFW reminds recreational crabbers that take of Dungeness crab by other methods (including hoop nets and crab snares) is allowed through the close of the season. All open Fishing Zones remain under a Fleet Advisory for the recreational Dungeness crab fishery. CDFW also reminds all fishery participants to implement best practices as described in the Best Practices Guide.
The commercial fishery remains open in Fishing Zones 1 and 2 (California/Oregon border to the Sonoma/Mendocino County line) under existing trap reductions and depth constraints. Fishing Zones 3-5 (Sonoma/Mendocino County line to Point Conception) have transitioned to use of authorized Alternative Gear (aka Pop-Up gear) through the remainder of the season.
CDFW anticipates the next risk assessment will take place in early June 2026. For more information related to the risk assessment process, please visit CDFW’s Whale Safe Fisheries page. For more information on the Dungeness crab fishery, please visit wildlife.ca.gov/crab.
Wyoming wildlife managers plan to cut wolf hunting by 50% after a canine distemper outbreak reduced wolf numbers to their lowest in two decades. The new 22-wolf…
Credit: via ap
Wyoming cuts wolf hunt in half to buoy Yellowstone region’s disease-depleted population
A 22-wolf cap is the fewest number of wolves available to licensed Wyoming hunters since the state began allowing wolf hunting after Endangered Species Act protections were lifted in 2012. The limit also marks a significant decrease from last fall’s wolf hunting season.
“As far as the overall mortality limit, it’s exactly half,” Wyoming Game and Fish Department wolf biologist Ken Mills told WyoFile.
Last year, hunters could target a maximum of 44 wolves in the area around the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem, where Wyoming classifies wolves as trophy game during the Sept. 15-Dec. 31 season. Hunters bound to Wyoming’s relatively tight regulations in that zone managed to kill 31 wolves.
It wasn’t hunting, however, that resulted in the lowest population since wolves were still being established after the 1995-96 Yellowstone National Park reintroduction. Biologists say a canine distemper outbreak is the primary culprit in the decline. The measles-like disease is especially deadly for puppies, and it was detected in 64% of the animals that Wyoming biologists handled during routine capture work last year.
As the calendar turned to 2026, Mills and federal biologists tallied 253 wolves and 14 breeding pairs statewide. Those are decreases, respectively, of 23% and 42% from the 330 wolves and 24 breeding pairs estimated at the end of 2024.
Wyoming’s proposed hunt for 2026 is designed to increase the wolf population in the trophy game area, located in the state’s mountainous northwest corner. The population in that zone decreased 19% to 132 wolves in 2025 — a figure that’s well below the state’s 160-animal objective.
“We want to grow the population by 28 wolves,” Mills said.
Driving Wyoming’s desire to increase numbers of the controversial native canine is the 160-wolf objective designed to ensure that the state meets its obligations with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. When the state first gained jurisdiction over wolves 14 years ago, Wyoming’s delisting agreement called for maintaining at least 10 breeding pairs in the trophy game area. In 2025, there were exactly 10 breeding pairs, which shows that the margin for error is thin at the current lower population.
The reductions to Wyoming’s wolf hunting quotas aren’t uniform.
“The wolf numbers in the Cody, Lander and Pinedale regions were relatively stable in 2025,” Mills said. “The largest reduction was in the Jackson region.”
As a result, Game and Fish is proposing to reduce the limit, from 19 to six, for wolves that can be killed in four conjoined hunt areas (units 8, 9, 10 and 11) spanning from Jackson Hole into the Green River basin. The state’s draft regulations also call for relaxing the limit on wolves that can be hunted along the west slope of the Tetons and in the Teton Wilderness (units 6 and 7) from five animals to no more than two.
There are major differences in how the three northern Rocky Mountain states hunt wolves, and it’s unclear if Montana and Idaho will follow suit and decrease hunting pressure near Yellowstone National Park. Wyoming’s distemper outbreak was regionwide and also hit Yellowstone packs, which only managed to produce 17 surviving pups — the lowest count in 30 years of careful monitoring.
In Montana, where hunters and trappers can kill 15 wolves apiece, wildlife managers do use a quota system near the Yellowstone boundary to ease impacts on wolves that leave the park. Idaho, meanwhile, allows largely unfettered wolf hunting on the western side of the ecosystem.
Wyoming manages wolves similarly, with few regulations, on the outskirts of the Yellowstone region. Where the species is classified as a “predator” — in 85% of the state — wolves can be killed by almost any means and there are no hunting limits to be altered as a result of the population decline.
Game and Fish will host several northwestern Wyoming public meetings about its wolf hunting proposals. They’ll take place at 6 p.m. May 26 in Jackson; 6 p.m. May 28 in Cody; 6 p.m. June 2 in Pinedale; and 6 p.m. June 3 in Lander.
The state agency’s commission must also OK the draft hunting regulations. Commissioners plan to take up the issue at their July 14-15 meeting in Sheridan.
Mills anticipates hearing from detractors on both sides of the wolf hunting issue.
“There will be people frustrated that the mortality limit is lower,” he said, “and members of the public that probably think we shouldn’t hunt wolves at all.”
___
This story was originally published by WyoFile and distributed through a partnership with The Associated Press.Close Ad
Exposing the Big Game 