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How A Bird Flu Outbreak Wiped Out A Generation Of Seals In Patagonia—And What It Means For Wildlife Conservation – Analysis
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- Published Jan 7, 2026
Eurasia Review An unprecedented avian flu outbreak in Argentine Patagonia devastated a stable elephant seal colony, highlighting the rising threat of infectious disease to wildlife in a warming world.
In the spring of 2023, we returned to Península Valdés, a rugged coastal region in Argentine Patagonia, expecting to witness the familiar sights and sounds of southern elephant seals during their breeding season. These massive marine mammals, with males weighing up to 4,000 kilograms, gather in large colonies on the beaches to give birth, nurse their young, and mate. The air usually resonates with the cries of thousands of pups calling out to their mothers, the grunts and bellows of males competing for dominance, and the buzz of life thriving on the rocky shores.
Instead, we were met with an eerie silence and a devastating sight: beaches once bustling with thousands of seals were littered with hundreds of dead pups and adults. The usual cacophony had been replaced by the stench of decay, and the empty spaces where seals should have gathered were painfully obvious. This mass mortality event had unfolded over just a few weeks—a stark and sudden collapse that no one could have predicted with such speed and severity.
‘It’s completely out of control’: Scientists warn bird flu could spark a human pandemic in 2026
Hong Kong shelter saves 351 animals in 6 months as trapping, smuggling cases surge
Paws Guardian Rescue Shelter reports that animal cruelty cases are ‘alarmingly common’ as it calls for stronger action to be taken
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Published: 8:30am, 7 Jan 2026Updated: 10:59pm, 7 Jan 2026
Illegal dog trapping and cat smuggling have become alarmingly common, with an animal rescue group reporting that it saved 351 animals in Hong Kong over the past six months – an average of two per day.
As Paws Guardian Rescue Shelter, now in its 10th year, released a report on Tuesday detailing the condition of the animals it had saved over the past six months, its founder – who led most of the operations – told the Post how brutal recent cases had become.
Founder Kent Luk Ka-chit said that in December alone, the group rescued four seriously injured dogs caught in illegal traps set up by residents to catch wild boars on hillsides in areas including Lau Fau Shan, Ngau Chi Wan and Siu Lam.
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“The most common trap has a wire noose with a spring mechanism. Shortly after a dog is trapped, the noose tightens around its limb as it struggles, cutting off blood circulation and exposing bones in many cases,” Luk said.
“Of the four rescued dogs, one was being treated. Three had one of their limbs amputated. This has already incurred massive bills at the vet – more than HK$200,000 [US$26,000] so far to save their lives.
“The situation has become alarmingly common in recent months. It’s really hard for us to keep raising enough funds.”
Paws Guardian prioritises rescuing injured animals and provides emergency treatment before arranging adoptions. The shelter currently houses nearly 300 dogs and 200 cats, according to Luk.
It was the first time the NGO had commissioned university scholars to analyse the conditions of the hundreds of animals it had rescued.
In its latest report, which recorded that 281 cats and 70 dogs were rescued between July and December last year, 121 of the cats and 45 of the dogs were either injured or ill.
Common injuries included wound infections, conditions related to traffic accidents, attacks by other animals and injuries caused by traps, according to the report.
An overwhelming 94 per cent of dogs and 56 per cent of cats were found in the New Territories, particularly in Yuen Long and North district.
The group also rescued 87 kittens and 19 puppies in the past six months.
Luk highlighted that cat smuggling had become increasingly common as current laws regulated the breeding and sale of dogs but not cats.
“It’s easier to breed and transport cats [than dogs] … You may notice that many pet shops that once sold dogs now predominantly sell cats,” he said.
“That is a lucrative business. A cat can be sold for up to HK$30,000 in a pet shop, while a kitten illegally smuggled from mainland China can be acquired cheaply at HK$500.”
Luk said a surge in the pet cat population was linked to the increase in abandonment observed over the past year. As a veteran rescuer, he noted that abandoned kittens and puppies were unlikely to survive on their own.
The survey excluded animals that died before reaching a vet or those sent directly to 24-hour veterinary hospitals other than the group’s affiliated clinic.
According to the report, the mean ages of the rescued cats and dogs were around three and five years, respectively. The vast majority were domestic shorthair cats and mongrels.
Luk added that the group’s adoption rates had been low due to Hong Kong’s economic conditions, small living spaces and people’s reluctance to adopt animals with disabilities resulting from their injuries.
He called on authorities to strengthen efforts to crack down on the importation of illegal traps and smuggled animals, as well as to increase penalties for animal cruelty.
Under the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Ordinance, the offence carries a maximum penalty of three years’ imprisonment and a fine of HK$200,000.
But Luk said it was very difficult for authorities to catch perpetrators, as the traps were often set in remote areas and abandonment was hard to prove.
“Hong Kong’s animal protection laws have been lagging far behind many other places including Taiwan. All we can do is continue rescuing them,” he said.
Results of the nonresident deer/elk tag drawing now available. Successful applicants have until Jan. 20 to buy tags
Results of the nonresident deer/elk tag drawing now available. Successful applicants have until Jan. 20 to buy tags
Coyote Wintertime Hunting: The Secrets for More Success
Dropping temperatures and shorter days make winter the perfect time to pursue predators.
January 07, 2026By Brad Fitzpatrick
Daylight was fading rapidly over the cold Midwestern farm fields. There wasn’t much of a breeze, but the small rise where I had set up seemed to catch the winter wind more than the surrounding corn fields, and in the last few minutes of fading light that wind found its way past my facemask and down my back. I shivered against the cold.
My hunting partner Matt pressed the button on the e-caller, and the fields were filled with the wail of a cottontail. I was still settling in behind the rifle when I caught sight of a gray form gliding out of the trees. Before I could raise the rifle, there was a crack from Matt’s .25-06 and the first ’yote of the evening was down. It was the fastest response to a call I’d seen and a good start to a cold night of coyote hunting.
After whitetail season winds down, it’s tempting to spend the frigid winter days stretched out in a recliner close to the fire, but the reality is that the coldest days often bring with them the hottest coyote hunting action.
The Coyote’s Year
Coyotes are born in the spring after a gestation period of 60 days. Late-spring and summer behavior revolves around rearing the pups and finding enough food to support the mated pair or pack and the growing youngsters. By mid-summer, the young coyotes are old enough to begin venturing away from the den and will often vocalize with their parents at night.
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From early spring until autumn, the coyote’s life revolves around eating and raising young, but by October or November, the adult coyotes generally begin prompting their youngsters to move along. With winter and the coyote breeding season approaching, it’s time for the young of the year to venture out.
The arrival of winter in late December and early January coincides with the coyote’s breeding season. Most female coyotes come into estrus in January, and while they don’t “rut” like whitetails, coyotes do change their behavior patterns in response to the breeding season. Coyote social patterns vary by location, but oftentimes these monogamous creatures mate for life, and breeding pairs call frequently during breeding season. Biologists give various explanations for this uptick in pair vocalizations, stating the behavior may be a way of signaling to interlopers that the territory is occupied. Or perhaps the excess calling is simply a bonding behavior among mates.
Targeting Winter Coyotes
One of the questions most often asked of biologists is whether coyotes live in packs or pairs, and the answer is “yes.” Coyotes have been observed living in packs that consist of related individuals (the previous year’s offspring, generally), but in other areas, coyotes form mating-pair bonds and rarely travel in packs. Whether in packs or pairs, coyotes will patrol their territory during the winter breeding season and defend against interlopers.
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While adult coyotes are singing love songs to strengthen their pair bond, the youngsters that have been booted from their familial pack are stuck to roam around the landscape in search of new territory. These young dogs are on the move, they’ve lost the structure (and free meal ticket) that their birth pack offered, and they’re more naïve than older dogs. My coyote hunting buddy calls them jakes because they remind him of the overzealous young male turkeys with little beards and even less experience who come high-stepping into a turkey call, and I believe the comparison to be apt. Young dogs that are fresh out on their own in search of food and territory are likely to come to the call, and I’m certain that these young, inquisitive ’yotes make up a sizeable portion of the late-fall and early-winter coyote harvest.
Mature coyotes that have formed breeding pairs have a better lot in life than the youngsters of the species, and their experience and social status oftentimes make them harder to kill. Coyote home ranges generally span two to 10 square miles, depending on habitat and coyote density. While coyotes will defend their home turf, they’re not nearly as territorial as other large predators like wolves. Whereas wolves may fight ferociously and even kill one another in territorial disputes, coyotes are far less likely to engage in violent territorial fights, and most conflicts are resolved without injury or bloodshed.
Understanding Winter Coyote Vocalizations
How a coyote responds to your call depends upon a variety of factors, but social status certainly plays a key role in a dog’s response. I believe that “jake” coyotes—yearling dogs that have been booted from their pack—make up a large part of the winter kill because they’re more responsive to vocalizations from other coyotes. The standard yip-howl call that is familiar to most hunters will often elicit a response from these yearling dogs, and they seem more prone to poking their heads out to take a look when they hear another coyote vocalizing.
Before you start randomly pressing buttons on your Foxpro remote, it’s worth breaking down the primary coyote vocalizations. Coyotes are vocal canines (their scientific name Canis latrans translates to “barking dog”) that communicate in a series of grunts, barks, snarls, howls, yips, and other calls. Many of these calls are primarily shared between packmates at close range, but others are designed to communicate messages over large territories.
Without spending too much time focusing on coyote communication, I’ll keep the discussion of useful long-range calls for hunters to a minimum. The classic yip-howl vocalization is the one that you’ve likely heard most, and the varying yaps, barks, and howls that coyotes use during these vocalizations often make it sound as though there are more coyotes in the pack than there are. The yip-howl is a territorial call that may prompt other coyotes to stay away or respond in kind (yip-howls often prompt other pairs or packs to join in the communication), but a bark or bark-howl is more aggressive and serves as a warning or signal of agitation. Lone coyotes often give a single howl or yip-howl as a contact howl to locate other dogs in the area. The call simply means, “I’m over here.”
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Understanding which call you choose and how aggressively to call requires finesse and experience. I’ve seen coyotes respond in a manner that is totally inconsistent with what I expected, but you should choose the type of call that sends the message you want to convey. A single dog out mousing in a field may respond to a single howl, but a pack of four or five dogs may come to investigate a bark-howl in an effort to drive away a single interloper.
I wish I could tell you that a single call will prompt the response you want from a coyote every single time, but that’s simply not the case. However, winter is a time when coyotes are quite vocal and territorial. Knowing how to speak their language can have the desired results.
Fool Them with Food
Vocalization calls work well in winter, but distress calls are still my favorite for stacking up coyotes. There are a couple of factors that make winter a great time for calling coyotes with the promise of food. A lack of widely available prey in the form of young rabbits, game birds, and fawns means that coyotes are always working to fill their stomachs, especially when the cold of winter strikes. Convince a coyote you’re an interloper or a receptive mate, and it may come running. Tempt it with food, and the odds are even better that you’ll get a response right away.
Coyote diets are extraordinarily varied. They’ll eat everything from berries to carrion, insects to cottontails. But in almost every corner of the coyote’s habitat, their favorite prey is small mammals—small rodents, in particular.
In winter, the leaves have generally fallen from the trees, and sound travels more efficiently. On really cold, still nights with ice and snow on the ground, even the slight squeak of a mouse carries a long distance through the frozen air. Blue jay, wild turkey, pup-in-distress, and cottontail calls also work well, but the cottontail-in-distress call is so commonly used by coyote hunters that it’s not my first choice. While it still seems to work well on unpressured predators (I killed a gray fox in Texas that very nearly ran into my lap when the rabbit distress call started), I think that educated coyotes in densely populated areas east of the Mississippi have started associating those distress calls with the searing whiplash of a bullet, and therefore are less likely to approach.
The lack of foliage in winter makes moving decoys more visible to coyotes. A scientific study conducted a few years ago concluded that coyotes use vision as their primary sense when locating prey. Sure, they’ll respond to scent and sound, but a ‘yote really wants to see its prey. Motion decoys have been a real game-changer, but they’re not nearly as effective when coyotes can’t see them through vegetation. The clear, cold winter months make it easier for dogs to locate the decoy.
Winter certainly presents challenges, but if you’re willing to brave the cold and scout prime coyote areas, there’s a good chance you’ll connect with a coyote during the dead of winter. If you appeal to its need for social interaction or a longing to fill its stomach, you’ll very likely score.
Exposing the Big Game 