Phil Currie to receive National science medal
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- Published on Sunday, 11 November 2012 08:00
- Written by Pat Kolafa | © DrumhellerMail.com
Dr. Phillip Currie is to be honoured with a national award.
Media reports say Currie, who is now a professor at the University of Alberta, will be receiving the Royal Canadian Geographical Society Gold Medal this week in Ottawa. Canadian actor Dan Ackroyd will be presenting it.
Currie is being recognized for his research into dinosaur group behaviour and migration patterns. Currie believes that, during the late Cretaceous period, North America and Asia were connected via a land bridge and that dinosaurs would migrate between the two continents.
Fossil assemblages in Alberta and Mongolia share many similarities in the kinds of dinosaurs present.
Currie was one of the leads in creating the Royal Tyrrell Museum and, when it opened in 1985, became Curator of Dinosaurs. He left the Tyrrell in 2005 to be a professor of Biological Sciences at the University of Alberta and was recently inducted into the Alberta Order of Excellence.
The Royal Canadian Geographical Society Gold Medal was first awarded in 1972. The award was established to recognize particular achievement by one or more individuals in the general field of geography for a significant national or international event. Past recipients include astronaut Jerry Linenger and Alex Trebek.
Remembrance Day services in the area
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- Published on Saturday, 10 November 2012 08:20
- Written by © DrumhellerMail.com
Sunday, November 11
East Coulee -11:00 a.m. East Coulee Community Hall
Dalum- 10:45 a.m. Dalum Lutheran Church
Big Valley - 10:45 a.m. Jubilee Hall
Carbon - 10:15 a.m. Carbon Community Hall
Delia - 10:30 a.m. Delia Community Hall
Hussar - 10:30 a.m. Our Saviors Lutheran Church
Rockyford - 10:30 a.m. Rockyford Community Centre
Standard - 10:30 a.m. Standard Hall
Drumheller services
10:30 a.m. at Badlands Community Facility.
There will be FREE bus service for seniors and veterans to and from the service, courtesy of the Town of Drumheller. Sign-up sheets are posted at the following places or call the Legion at 403-823-5611:
Bus schedule for November 11:
Bus pick up begins at 9:30 a.m. for Manor 1, Manor 2, Riverview Terrace, and Keystone Estates, followed by Sunshine Lodge.
The Legion clubroom is open following the service. Everyone is invited to participate.
All deer and elk heads required for mandatory CWD testing
- Details
- Published on Saturday, 10 November 2012 08:10
- Written by Michael James | © DrumhellerMail.com
Hunters in the Drumheller area are being asked to keep their heads this hunting season.
Three Wildlife Management Units (WMU’s) have been added to the list of mandatory deer head submission units as part of the mandatory fall Chronic Wasting Disease (CWD) surveillance program. The Drumheller area is among those listed.
The addition of the Drumheller area comes after the disease continues to expand its distribution from eastern Alberta into the Red Deer River, Southern Saskatchewan River, and Battle River watersheds.
“In past years its been optional, but now the disease is spreading up the Red Deer River,” said Ed Hofman, a biologist with Fish and Wildlife in Drumheller.
The surveillance program requires hunters to submit all heads of the deer and elk they hunt to a freezer location. From there, the heads can be tested for CWD to better understand the spread of the disease and gauge the effectiveness of control programs.
“We’re trying to control it through increased harvest in the areas where it is known the disease is present. The disease is found in the lymph nodes at the base of the brain, so that’s why we ask hunters to submit the heads. They go to a lab in Edmonton and there technicians will test to see if the disease is there,” said Hofman.
A freezer location for deer and elk heads will be placed at 701 Railway Avenue, the UFA Cardlock. All deer and elk killed in the area must be submitted.
Hunters who submit animals that test positive for CWD will be contacted. Therefore, it is recommended hunters wait until learning the results of the test before eating any meat from their animals.
“There’s no medical evidence to show it's transmissible to humans. We do inform every hunter who submitted a positive deer, so they can decide if they want to eat it or not,” said Hofman.
CWD is a type of transmissible spongiform encephalopahty caused by prions (similar to mad cow disease). The disease is characterized by weight loss, decreased interactions with other animals, listlessness, lowing of the head, blank expression, repetitive walking in set patterns, and smell of rotting meat. Excessive salivation and grinding teeth have also been observed.
The disease is always fatal.
This past year saw the testing of 3,195 animals. Of those heads, the overall infection rate was 1.03 per cent, but was slightly higher (1.52 per cent) in mule deer. White-tailed deer had an infection rate of 0.26 per cent. All cases were detected in the CWD risk area on the eastern Alberta border.
The first case of CWD in Alberta was found in Acadia Valley, near the Saskatchewan border, in 2005.
More information about CWD and requirements for hunters can be found at www.srd.alberta.ca/FishWildlife.
