News Bites
Escape from Alcatraz
One lone coyote made quite the splash when it showed up earlier in the year on Alcatraz Island, infamous site of an old prison within sight of San Francisco. How did it get there and where did it come from? Since it’s unlikely the canine booked a ferry, researchers surmise he swam to shore (later confirmed by video). Initial theories were that he had braved the cold water from the city where there is a robust population of urban coyotes.
Soon after the animal was spotted arriving on Alcatraz in late January, park biologists launched a coordinated effort to learn more about the visitor. Staff surveyed the island for tracks, installed trail cameras and audio recording devices, and collected scat samples for DNA testing at the school’s Veterinary Genetics Laboratory.
Results confirmed the coyote was a male and not a city boy after all. DNA results matched him to Angel Island’s coyote population—which makes his adventure even more impressive due to the longer distance.
Despite months of follow-up monitoring, the coyote was never seen again or his presence captured on the recording devices. Researchers were particularly interested in locating the coyote because of Alcatraz’s role as seabird nesting habitat. Staff were prepared to safely capture and relocate the animal to a more suitable home within Golden Gate National Recreation Area.
Apparently, the wily coyote who captured media attention as far away as the Taipei Times and the BBC had enough of the spotlight and swam back home.
Predicting and Preventing Zoonotic Disease
Research from the Department of Population Health and Reproduction and the One Health Institute is drawing national attention, with The NY Times recently spotlighting efforts by Drs. Pranav Pandit, Pranav Kulkarni and Marcela Uhart to anticipate where zoonotic diseases may emerge next.
These researchers and their colleagues have developed models that connect climate projections, land use, rodent habitat, human population density, and infection risk. Their AtlasArena platform uses machine learning to forecast how arenaviruses—rodent-borne pathogens that can cause hemorrhagic fever—could shift across South America over the next 20 to 40 years under different climate change scenarios.
By identifying communities where risk may grow, their work equips public health officials to strengthen surveillance and intervene before outbreaks take hold. Building on this foundation, the team continues to develop models for zoonotic disease risk by leveraging advanced AI frameworks and accounting for the evolving impacts of climate change.
School researchers are pairing that predictive approach with prevention strategies. In work on H5N1 avian influenza in seals and sea lions, teams led by Drs. Christine Johnson and Uhart call for sustained wildlife monitoring, stronger international coordination, noninvasive technologies including thermal and satellite imaging, and policies that address underlying outbreak drivers. UC Davis surveillance at California’s Año Nuevo Natural Reserve already enabled exceptionally rapid detection of H5N1 in free-ranging marine mammals.
Together, these efforts advance a proactive One Health strategy: understand risks early, monitor animals and environments closely, and act before diseases spread widely.
Small Worm Causes Big Concern
In early June, New World screwworm (NWS) myiasis made its way from South America to Texas, raising national concern about threats to the country’s food supply. This serious condition is caused by the larvae of a fly (Cochliomyia hominivorax), which feed on the living tissue of warm-blooded animals—including livestock, wildlife, pets, and occasionally humans.
Although eradicated from the United States in 1966, the NWS fly is still endemic in South America and parts of the Caribbean. The recent outbreaks in cattle near the U.S. – Mexico border raised concerns over potential northward spread due to warming temperatures and import/export of animals across borders.
For livestock infested with NWS, the prognosis for treated animals is generally good, barring any complications. Without intervention, NWS infestation can be fatal within a week.
Multiple school experts were quoted in national and international news outlets including the BBC, NY Times and USA Today.
More information about New Word Screwworm.
A Ray of Sunshine
When tiny kitten Sunshine was brought to the Itsie Bitsie Rescue by a Good Samaritan, it was immediately clear that she was not going to be a typical case. She had been born with pectus excavatum or “sunken chest,” a birth defect more common in humans but also affecting many different mammal species. It causes the sternum and ribcage to develop in a concave vs convex position, which can place tremendous pressure on the lungs and chest and prevent normal breathing. The condition does not self-correct and requires surgery.
Ideally, the three-week-old kitten weighing just 310 grams (0.68 pounds) would gain weight and grow a bit before surgery, but serious respiratory distress determined that intervention could not wait. (Previously, the smallest kitten to undergo this surgical procedure at UC Davis was 600 grams). Surgeons secured an external splint to Sunshine’s chest with sutures that went under her sternum and ribs. Over the next six weeks, the splint gradually pulled her sternum and ribs into a more normal configuration.
When the splint was removed, the kitten weighed 1.01 kilograms (2.22 pounds) and was recovering well. Sunshine became an Instagram darling and a ray of hope. She will be officially adopted by her foster mom.
From Landfill to Forever Home
Dr. Jessica Hodson ’26 was still a veterinary student this spring when her boyfriend Ryan Reed and his colleagues saw a pup crawl out of a trash load that had just been dumped in the landfill where they worked.
The young dog, unable to use its hind limbs and scared, dragged itself to part of the landfill inaccessible by vehicle due to the heavy rain that day. With Reed’s help, the Solano County Sheriff’s Office Animal Control Services were able to get the pup—later named Fig—to safety.
One of the veterinarians working with Solano Animal Control on Fig’s case was Dr. Anne Chiruvolu, a 2021 alum who had volunteered with the UC Davis Fracture Program for Rescue Animals as a DVM student. After x-rays revealed a fracture
of Fig’s right femur and a fracture through the left ilial body (upper portion) of his pelvis, she knew UC Davis was the right place to refer him for care.
Thanks to the program, Fig underwent orthopedic surgery and was neutered and microchipped. Following surgery, many cases enrolled in the Fracture Program are medically fostered by veterinary students. This is where Hodson knew she and Reed had to be the ones to care for Fig, so she immediately volunteered to provide him with a foster home.
After strict rest with movement restrictions, Fig was allowed on controlled leash walks until he recovered. Hodson and Reed assisted with rehabilitation by performing range of motion exercises on his legs. The rest, as they say, is history. Fig became a minor celebrity on the school’s Facebook and Instagram feeds and now has a forever home with his “foster fail” parents.
Resilient Flight
Red-tailed hawks can compensate for feather loss during molt by subtly changing their wing and tail movements, according to a cross-disciplinary study by UC Davis researchers in the College of Engineering and the Weill School of Veterinary Medicine.
During molt, which typically occurs at least once a year, birds shed old feathers to make room for new ones. The process leaves gaps in the wings and tail, which can make flight more difficult. Yet birds still need to fly to navigate their environment, hunt and perch.
Using four synchronized high-speed cameras, Alfonso Martínez-Carmena—lead author on the paper and a postdoctoral researcher in the Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering—tracked wing and tail movements of Jack (pictured), a resident red-tailed hawk at the California Raptor Center.
The hawk was filmed performing flight maneuvers during natural molt and again after its feathers had fully regrown to investigate how kinematic variations change depending on the location of feather gaps in the tail and wings. The findings, as featured on NPR, could inform wildlife rehabilitation efforts for birds of prey and inspire the design of more resilient uncrewed aerial vehicles that can continue operating despite losing part of a wing or control surface.
Learn more about this unique research partnership at the Center for Animal Locomotion and Innovation.