WILDCOMS Network

Welcome to the wildlife Disease & Contaminant Monoitoring and Surveillance (WILDCOMS) Network

This website is currently under construction and so some information has yet to be completed, if you would like further information about the network please contact Lee Walker; leew@ceh.ac.uk.

 

The network is a collaborative project among the major disease and contaminant monitoring schemes for vertebrate wildlife that operate in the United Kingdom. These schemes are run by various government agencies and laboratories, research centres, institutes, and academia. Details of the network membership can be found on the Network Membership page.

 

Disease and contaminants can both pose major risks to wildlife and human populations. Disease is a natural driver regulating the dynamics of wildlife populations, but some diseases warrant particular attention because they (i) cause major mortalities that lead to population crashes, (eg., VHD in rabbits), (ii) threaten wildlife species of high conservation concern (for example squirrelpox virus in red squirrels), or (iii) pose a potential threat to Man (eg., rabies, avian influenza). The risk that environmental contaminants can pose to wildlife populations has also been repeatedly demonstrated, the classic example being the catastrophic impact of organochlorine pesticides on predatory birds and mammals.

 

The main aims of the WILDCOMS network are:

(i) to provide a focal point and overview of health status monitoring of wild vertebrates

(ii) increasing awareness of the constituent monitoring schemes

(iii) to facilitate collaboration between network partners, and

(iv) to facilitate the identification of  monitoring issues of  emerging concern.

You can find out more about how the network is working towards addressing these aims on our Current Activities page.

 

Many of the schemes that take part in the WILDCOMS network rely on the public to submit dead birds and mammals that they find. If you have found a dead bird or mammal please look at our Samples Wanted page to find out which scheme you should contact.