COVID-19 impact on Animals

Last week I noticed this poster (tweeted by Eva Bartlett a Canadian journalist) and shook my head in disbelief.

Surely Otters can’t catch SARS-COV-2 ? So I started to research.

My research quickly took me to this link , a detailed article starting with the sensational claim that :

“Chimps and gorillas may catch COVID-19. Giant anteaters, bottlenose dolphins, horses, dogs, alligators, cats, sheep and Siberian tigers are also on the list of animals that may be able to catch and transmit the deadly pandemic coronavirus.”

Wow ! Scary shit.

However, my bullshit radar was alerted by the following phrases :

1/ “may catch COVID-19“

as we all know by now, one does not catch COVID-19, one catches SARS-COV-2 which may (or may not in the majority of cases) develop into the disease known as COVID-19.

2/ “may be able to catch” – so do these animals actually develop the disease or not ?

3/ “deadly pandemic coronavirus” – did these animals actually die from this deadly virus ? If so where is the evidence ?

Reading further down the article we discover that :

Quote :

“Have There Been Animal Outbreaks of Coronavirus?

In April, as the waves of coronavirus were still crashing over New York City, a four-year-old Bronx Zoo tiger named Nadia tested positive and started coughing, a hallmark of the COVID-19 disease caused by the pandemic.

The news deflated morale in a public still shocked and confused by the abrupt social distancing and quarantine measures that shuttered the nation in March.

Not even the beloved big cats in zoos are safe? Is the world ending?

Today we know a lot more about the novel coronavirus, now in the ninth month of its global assault. All eight Bronx zoo cats are fine, according to the latest news from the zoo. The zoo itself reopened to visitors in late July.”

OK so the animals did not die and are all doing fine (Big sigh of relief !)

Let’s read on.

Quote :

“

Charles Patrick Davis, MD, PhD., an emergency medicine specialist and microbiologist who writes for MedicineNet, stressed that animal outbreaks of COVID-19 are theoretical at this point. No major clusters of the disease among animal populations or contracted from domestic animals are documented.

“I’m not aware of any major outbreaks among animals.”

So the statements are theoretical ?

What does it say in the research article published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences by the world renowned University of California, Davis ?

Well the title is a giveaway :

Broad host range of SARS-CoV-2 predicted by comparative and structural analysis of ACE2 in vertebrates

So this is a predictive analysis (aka a Model), made famous by Neil Ferguson et al (more on this in a future post)

“We identified a large number of mammals that can potentially be infected by SARS-CoV-2 via their ACE2 proteins... Given the limited infectivity data for the species studied, we urge caution not to overinterpret the predictions of the present study.“

Ah so this “may” “potentially” happen, but you have not actually found any real world data to prove your predictions.

So who is this obscure University of California, Davis anyway and who funds them ?

Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation – enough said.

Now it’s time to see what the CDC say about COVID-19 in animals.

“Research on animals and COVID-19

More studies are needed to understand if and how different animals could be affected by COVID-19.

Many studies have been done (but the CDC fails to provide any references to these studies) to learn more about how this virus can affect different animals. These findings were based on a small number of animals, and do not show whether animals can spread infection to people.

The risk of pets spreading COVID-19 to people is low. Do not put masks on pets; masks could harm your pet.

There is no evidence that the virus can spread to people from the skin, fur, or hair of pets.“

Hardly conclusive evidence from the CDC.

However they do provide a link to the US Dept of Agriculture, Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service site. Maybe they will have the evidence ?

Breathlessly I click on this link :

“More information on COVID-19 can be found at https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/animals/pets-other-animals.html ” – which takes me back to the same CDC page I just left !

So do Otters actually catch COVID-19 in the real world ? Luckily I eventually found the website of the World Organization for Animal Health, who publish weekly bulletins on SARS-COV-2 “Cases” in animals :

and it is indeed true that 2 Otters have tested positive since February 2021…….

However it was the 360 cases of SARS-COV-2 in Mink that caught my eye.

I vaguely remember something about an outbreak in Mink farms in Denmark some time last year. But surely there were more than 360 ?

What I discovered next is far more disturbing to animal lovers like myself than the poster of the unmasked Otter.

But you will have to wait until next week’s post to discover why.

Australian Govt Priorities

The Federal Government said it had recently allocated $500,000 over two years to improve Indigenous heritage protection and Indigenous involvement in the the decision-making process over the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act.

This compares to $48.7 million committed in 2018 to commemorate the 250^th anniversary of the arrival of Captain Cook, or the $500 million put aside in February to redevelop of the Australian War Memorial.

Meanwhile the oldest human remains ever found in Australia, dating back to at least 42,000 years old are being secretly hidden with no consultation from the traditional owners of the land.

But there are fears that history could soon be reburied and lost forever, with a NSW government proposal to rebury the 108 remains in secret, unmarked graves across 26 sites in the World Heritage Listed area.

https://www.sbs.com.au/nitv/article/2021/07/27/oldest-human-remains-could-be-lost-forever?fbclid=IwAR29Yn4BzKATmgnufhlFM0OSd2QNe–Z-CUEcP9vBOcB7X7bhXeMq3sxxpQ

A special ceremony returning the 42,000-year-old remains of Mungo Man, and the other ancestors, was held in Nov 2017 at Lake Mungo, after a 43-year battle.

https://www.sbs.com.au/nitv/nitv-news/article/2017/11/20/mungo-mans-historic-return-celebrated-song-and-dance?cid=inbody:oldest-human-remains-could-be-lost-forever

Sahul – the early Australian civilisation

We know it is more than 60,000 years since the first people entered the continent of Sahul—the giant landmass that connected New Guinea, Australia and Tasmania when sea levels were lower than today.

But where the earliest people moved across the landscape, how fast they moved, and how many were involved, have been shrouded in mystery.

Our latest research, published today shows the establishment of populations in every part of this giant continent could have occurred in as little as 5,000 years. And the entire population of Sahul could have been as high as 6.4 million people.

Read More…

Oldest Story in the World ?

Long ago, four giant beings arrived in southeast Australia. Three strode out to other parts of the continent, but one crouched in place. His body transformed into a volcano called Budj Bim, and his teeth became the lava the volcano spat out.

Now, scientists say this tale—told by the Aboriginal Gunditjmara people of the area—may have some basis in fact. About 37,000 years ago, Budj Bim and another nearby volcano formed through a rapid series of eruptions, new evidence reveals, suggesting the legend may be the oldest story still being told today.

https://www.sciencemag.org/news/2020/02/aboriginal-tale-ancient-volcano-oldest-story-ever-told?fbclid=IwAR33O-mhmWsy7zE5mei9P7My3ljLfXgY5zyUdrDkH5iNpShdtsbGu_gWcLk

Sophisticated traditional Tasmanian Indigenous culture

 

A groundbreaking study has found evidence of extensive land management and fire-stick farming by Aboriginals in the North-West prior to the arrival of Europeans.

And it could also rewrite the history of one of Tasmania’s most famous European explorers: VDL surveyor Henry Hellyer.

The study involved drilling deep into the ground at Surrey Hills to see how the landscape had changed over time.

 

After dating and analysing the core, the researchers found grass, eucalyptus and charcoal were abundant in older soils but disappeared after the arrival of Europeans and were replaced by rainforest.

This new evidence corroborates much of what Bruce Pascoe has discovered in his researches, published in his book Dark Emu.

 

“In light of this new evidence we should re-evaluate the legacy of early white surveyors like Henry Hellyer whose glowing reports of the Surrey and Hampshire Hill being like an English park were later condemned as inaccurate and romantic,” he said.

“Some historians believe this criticism was partly responsible for Hellyer suiciding in 1832, but according to the new research Hellyer was spot on and accurately described what he found.”

https://www.theadvocate.com.au/story/6754779/study-has-profound-implications-for-tasmanian-history/?cs=12&fbclid=IwAR1qV9F7uIeDbC8eMcxCgZCWdMYGDDOL-c1Sgl50uSat02becHm07u7i6Co

 

Australia visible from Timor 60,000 years ago

Indonesia’s National Centre for Archaeology, have now begun the search on Rote and West Timor for the earliest evidence of the region’s first human maritime explorers, the likely ancestors of the First Australians.

https://theconversation.com/island-hopping-study-shows-the-most-likely-route-the-first-people-took-to-australia-93120

 

65,000 year old Master Chef !

Plant foods eaten at Madjedbebe included fruits and nuts, underground storage organs, pandanus kernels and palm. Top left: man-dudjmi or green plum; top right: man-mobban or billygoat plum; middle: May Nango and Djaykuk Djandjomerr removing the palm heart from a man-marrabbi or sand palm; bottom left: drupes of the man-belk or pandanus tree; bottom right: karrbarda or long yam. Photos reproduced with permission of Gundjeihmi Aboriginal Corporation. Elspeth Hayes/S. Anna Florin, Author provided

“the man-kindjek or cheeky yam, needed to be cooked, leached and/or pounded before being eaten. Some of these preparation techniques can take up to several days.”

https://theconversation.com/65-000-year-old-plant-remains-show-the-earliest-australians-spent-plenty-of-time-cooking-131761?fbclid=IwAR04Wlb_3Ns5iftc2VXK_Zu0HDKTPlmlVnS8ZNCbK5I7DQTbkhOzWEEsE8Q

 

Australia’s Stonehenge near Mullimbiby

What made Mullumbimby special was the rumour that it was built upon what was long ago a worldwide headquarters of stone circles. Today, the large number of remaining, disturbed standing stones possibly point to the existence of a world-wide centre of learning in the distant past.

The great number of stones point to the existence of a now destroyed, mega-structure. The Stone Age equivalent of Egypt’s the Library of Alexandria. It conceivably operated for well over a hundred thousand years and functioned as a centralised theroracratic academia from the beginning of the Pleistocene glaciation until the European invasion when it was scattered and its people driven away or killed. Reference : http://www.patestos.com/the-facts.html?fbclid=IwAR0qiQDc84dpfwYauBGtahs182kJZmnWuxrtfOqu1AmxCzea00C7onOGa9s

Dancers and Drummers Wanted !

We are a group of like minded folk planning a trip to Tunisia, Sicily, Malta, Sardinia, Corsica and back through France between September – October 2019.

One of our projects is to create a short dance video to include all of the local dance types and language groups we will be meeting (and trying to learn !) along the way.

If you share our interest in language, culture and the arts and you have a few weeks to spare around August / September 2019 why not view the Booking Options and join us for all or part of the adventure; It would be amazing to have you  along !!

At between GBP9-GBP20 per day per person* all up this is the cheapest way you will ever get to see Europe and Africa and make lifelong friendships with an amazing group of people. Just compare 20 nights travelling  in a Landrover with us to 7 nights in Benidorm– which would you choose ?

Whilst most nights we will be Wild Camping, stopovers in major cities are planned to sample the night life, and swap crews as people fly in and out:

• Paris
• Geneva
• Florence
• Rome
• Tunis
• Palermo
• Cagliari
• Ajaccio
• Nice
• St Remy-en-Provence
  • Here we will spend 3 days with our friends Neil & Sarah, where we will get the opportunity to ride some classic British motorbikes and try riding Ural sidecar outfits around Provence
• Limoges
• Rennes

*Cost per day depends on where you join us – the biggest costs are the Car Ferries.

Here are a couple of the most affordable legs available starting from just GBP8.90 per day !

Please let me know if you have any questions or new ideas to add to the plan!

Read On – it gets more interesting….

36 Hairpin Bends near Briancon last year – 33 of which needed 3 point turns ! Oh that wonderful Defender turning circle !

The group includes Dancers, Musicians, Cooks and The World’s Fastest Drummer (2015 Champion!)

This is a non-profit adventure. Our objective is to interact as much as possible with the local people, animals and scenery that we will encounter.

Approximate Cost Per person GBP9 – 20 per day *assume split costs by 5 in each Land Rover

Approximate costs include :

• All camping equipment including tents and sleeping bags
• Fuel
• Ferries
• Food Kitty
  • each night we will shop locally for fresh food from farmer’s markets and prepare a well-earned feast for the crew, cooked lovingly over an open fire – volunteer cooks welcome !
  • Kitty includes 3EUR/day wine/beer allowance, discounted if you don’t drink !
• Wild Camping
  • we will normally find a remote campsite each night either deep in a forest, by a lake or high in the mountains
• Free Dance and Drum Lessons
• Drone footage and a chance to fly the Expedition Drone
• Campsites
  • every 5 nights for showers and battery charging
  • normally we will wild camp, but if we are in a City we will find the closest campsite to the centre
• Free 4G Wi-Fi and full 240v charging facilities for laptops
• PLUS your name (and your dancing!) on the credits of the video at the end

All you need to bring are clothes, cameras and toiletries !

Can’t join for the whole trip ? 

We understand that most people cannot take 6 weeks holiday so why not organise regional flights  to join us for a week or two ?

(see Regional Airports map below).

Flights are extra (unless you join us for the while trip) but here are some indicative flight costs from Kiwi around that period :

London to :

Rome GBP25

Palermo (Sicily) GBP45

Cagilari (Corsica) GBP50

Malta GBP52

The attached spreadsheet is the main planning tool where you can play with dates and vehicle types (it only seems to work if you download it as Excel).

Go to the Sheet called “Summary” and there are 2 options :

a/ Enter the Dates you can join us

This will tell you roughly where we will be on that day and you can organise regional flights  to join us (see Regional Airports map below)

OR

b/ Select your preferred start and end towns from the pulldown list

This will tell you roughly which day we will be in that location and you can organise regional flights  to join us. (see Regional Airports map below)

Options include #of people and vehicle type.

There are a few projects planned by various parties on the “Expedition”, which we are still trying to crystallise into a plan!

In no particular order :

– Statue Posing

– Trying to visit as many Megalithic Sites as possible, experimenting with the  Expedition Drone :

 

– Learning as many local dance types and languages as we can along the way, and making a short music video maybe ? similar to this one made by our friends Dirk and Bettina and inspired by the African scenery and music

– Raising funds for some direct action charities in the countries we will be visiting

PS: If you can’t make this trip why not join us one of our other planned adventures :

August 2020 : 70 Countries ! yes that’s every country West of the Urals except Vatican City plus Tunisia, Algeria and Morocco .

 

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South Africa, Lesotho, Swaziland, Mozambique, Namibia, Botswana, Zambia and Zimbabwe

We are a group of like minded folk planning a trip to South Africa, Lesotho, Swaziland, Mozambique, Namibia, Botswana, Zambia and Zimbabwe between December 2018 – January 2019.

One of our projects is to create a short dance video to include all of the local dance types and language groups we will be meeting (and trying to learn !) along the way; a  South African version of this Senegalese A -Z of African Dance.

If you share our interest in language, culture and the arts and you have a few weeks to spare around Xmas / New Year why not fill in the form at the bottom of this page for more details or email: nigelatoxic@gmail.com and join us for all or part of the adventure; It would be amazing to have you  along !!

Many of you have said you cannot get to South Africa over the Christmas period as you have prior commitments with family and friends so we are making the trip flexible so you can join us for all or part of the journey.

At about GBP30 per day  per person all up this is the cheapest way you will ever get to see Africa and make lifelong friendships with an amazing group of people. Just compare 20 nights travelling Africa in a Landrover with us to 7 nights in Benidorm– which would you choose ?

Please let me know if you have any questions or new ideas to add to the plan!

Read On – it gets more interesting….

This is a non-profit adventure. Our objective is to interact as much as possible with the beautiful African people, animals and scenery that we will encounter.

We will have Dancers, Musicians, Cooks and hopefully a  couple of Mechanics on the trip.

Approximate Cost Per person *assume split costs by 7 in each Land Rover

Approximate costs include :

• Vehicle Hire
• all camping equipment
• Fuel
• Border Fees
• Food Kitty
• Wild Camping
• Campsites every 3 nights for showers and battery charging
• PLUS your name (and your dancing!) on the credits of the video at the end

 

Countries Visited	GBP	EUR	USD	AUD
Kalahari (10 days)
Joburg, Botswana, Namibia, Kalahari, Pretoria, Joburg	£    300	€     344	$          404	AUD     532
PART 1 (15 days)
Cape Town, Lesotho, Drakenburgs, Swaziland, Mozambique, Kruger NP, Joburg	£    530	€     608	$          714	AUD     939
FULL TRIP (36 days)
Cape Town, Lesotho, Drakenburgs, Swaziland, Mozambique, Kruger NP, Joburg, Botswana, Namibia, Zambia, Zimbabwe (Victoria Falls), Kalahari, Pretoria, Joburg	£ 1,000	€  1,148	$       1,347	AUD  1,772

All you need to bring are clothes, cameras and toiletries !

Flights are extra, but here are some indicative return flight costs from Kiwi around that period :

Flights
CNS via DPS	£  1,155
CNS-CPT	£  1,309
CNS-DPS	£     301
CNS-JNB	£  1,354
DPS-CPT	£     895
DPS-JNB	£     854
LON via PAR	£     493
LON-CPT	£     611
LON-JNB	£     552
LON-Par	£       76
PAR-CPT	£     450
PAR-JNB	£     417

Can’t join for the whole trip ? 

The attached spreadsheet is the main planning tool where you can play with dates and vehicle types (it only seems to work if you download it as Excel).

Go to the Sheet called “Summary” and there are 2 options :

a/ Enter the Dates you plan to arrive and leave South Africa

This will tell you roughly where we will be on that day and you can organise regional flights from/to CPT or JNB to join us (see Regional Airports map below)

OR

b/ Select your preferred start and end towns from the pulldown list

This will tell you roughly which day we will be in that location and you can organise regional flights from/to CPT or JNB to join us. (see Regional Airports map below)

Options include #of people and vehicle type (the Landy is more expensive but carries up to 7 people).

Dates are not yet fixed in stone but I will be there from mid December to mid January, others will be joining and leaving at various stages.

There are a few projects planned by various parties on the “Expedition”, which we are still trying to crystallise into a plan!

In no particular order :

Statue Posing

– Exploring the advanced ancient civilisations of South Africa and sound resonance technologies and hoping to meet up with Michael Tellinger

– Trying to visit as many safari parks as possible, experimenting with the Expedition Drone to find wild animals

– Learning as many local dance types and languages as we can along the way, and making a South African A -Z of African Dance video

– Creating a short music video maybe ? similar to this one made by our friends Dirk and Bettina and inspired by the African scenery and music

– Raising funds for some direct action charities in the countries we will be visiting

Countries Visited	Days	Cost/day	#Countries	Start	Start date	End	End Date
FULL TRIP (36 days)
Cape Town, Lesotho, Drakenburgs, Swaziland, Mozambique, Kruger NP, Joburg, Botswana, Namibia, Zambia, Zimbabwe (Victoria Falls), Kalahari, Pretoria, Joburg	36	£        28	8	Cape Town	18/12/2018	JoBurg	22/01/2019
PART 1 (15 days)
Cape Town, Lesotho, Drakenburgs, Swaziland, Mozambique, Kruger NP, Joburg	17	£        32	4	Cape Town	18/12/2018	JoBurg	3/01/2019
PART 2 (20 days)
Joburg, Botswana, Namibia, Zambia, Zimbabwe (Victoria Falls), Kalahari, Pretoria, Joburg	20	£        30	5	JoBurg	3/01/2019	JoBurg	22/01/2019

PS: If you can’t make this trip why not join us one of our future planned adventures :

May 2019 – France, Andorra, Spain, Portugal

August 2019 : Italy, Sicily, Malta, Sardinia, Corsica

August 2020 : 70 Countries ! yes that’s every country West of the Urals except Vatican City plus Tunisia, Algeria and Morocco .

 

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