Wildlife Health Center

Our California Carnivore Project (formerly California Mountain Lion Project) team has some sad news to share: F312, a female GPS collared mountain lion that was nicknamed "Uno" by southern California photographers, died last night after being struck by a vehicle. Valiant efforts to save her life were undertaken by local veterinarian Dr.

*Update as of Tuesday, October 11: An additional 12 whales have been found dead, bringing the total count to 30 whales (26 adults and 4 juveniles) for this event. More info here.

The California Lost Fishing Gear Recovery Project recovered more than 45 tons — 90,968 pounds — of lost, abandoned or otherwise discarded fishing gear along the Santa Barbara, Ventura, Los Angeles, Orange and San Diego coasts and from around the Channel Islands in 2020 and 2021. The project is a program of the Karen C. Drayer Wildlife Health Center at the UC Davis School of Veterinary Medicine.

Wildlife Health Center Research Associate Dr. Frances Gulland was designated as the Chair of the Marine Mammal Commission (MMC) on May 4, 2022. She replaces Dr. Daryl Boness, who will remain as one of the three Commissioners with Dr. Michael Tillman. Dr. Gulland joined the Committee of Scientific Advisors of the MMC in 2000, and was appointed and Senate-confirmed to serve as one of three Commissioners in 2011. The MMC works to ensure that marine mammal populations are restored and maintained as functioning elements of healthy marine ecosystems in the world's oceans.

Join us in welcoming Dr. Justin Dellinger, the new lead for the California Mountain Lion Project!

He is originally from western North Carolina and grew up in the Appalachian Mountains. He conducted research on red wolf foraging and spatial ecology and gray wolf-prey interactions as part of different graduate programs. He has also worked as a biologist for different tribes doing mountain lion and gray wolf work. More recently, he worked for the California Department of Fish & Wildlife for just over 6 years, where he served as a large carnivore researcher.

The journeys of a group of southern right whales to their feeding grounds are being tracked by satellite telemetry and their routes can be seen at www.siguiendoballenas.org. The technology applied in the "Tracking Whales" project allows us to identify key environments in the South Atlantic to protect southern right whales throughout their life cycle.

First the sea stars wasted to nothing. Then the purple urchins took over, eating and eating until the bull kelp forests were gone. The red abalone starved. Their fishery closed. Red sea urchins starved. Their fishery collapsed. And the ocean kept warming.

Scientists report the first cases of foot disease for endangered huemul deer in Chilean Patagonia in a study led by the Wildlife Conservation Society and the University of California, Davis’ One Health Institute, with partnering institutions in Chile and the United States.