Animals

Attention has mounted surrounding Texas’ cattle industry due to the detection of New World Screwworm in the state, but our Brad Burt reports livestock are not the only ones affected. Experts are encouraging pet owners to be vigilant in checking their pets and to use tick prevention. FDA-approved tick prevention for dogs can be found in topical or tablet form and for cats, the CDC recommends speaking to a vet before applying a tick prevention product.

There is at least one confirmed case found in South Texas. What can you do to protect your pets?

Scaled quail – also known as blue quail and “cottontops” – are quintessential creatures of the arid grasslands and the dominant quail species in West Texas. Researchers at Alpine’s Borderlands Research Institute are learing how adaptable these seemingly vulnerable creatures are.

When beekeepers saw widespread honeybee die-offs last year, researchers at the USDA Beltsville Agricultural Research Center stepped in to help. The Trump administration now plans to close the facility, sparking concern among beekeepers and scientists.

The United States has lost about 90% of its food animal veterinarians since the 1940s, according to a 2023 Johns Hopkins study.

Wildfires swept through Northwestern Oklahoma last month, including the Ranger Road Fire that burned hundreds of thousands of acres in Beaver, Harper and Woods Counties. The immediate danger is gone, but people are only beginning to recover from the toll on their homes, livestock and emotional well-being.

The lesser prairie chicken, known for its flamboyant courtship dances and bulging neck pouches, has lost a majority of its population in the grasslands and brush of southwestern Kansas. But Republican lawmakers have long fought against its habitat protections.

The City of Lubbock continues to remind citizens not to touch wild birds, as officials report having collected more than 2,000 dead birds by the end of January. Here are avian flu facts to be aware of and ways to keep yourself and your pets healthy.

Until now, estimating how old a dinosaur was when it died has been a fairly simple process: Count up the growth rings in the fossilized bones. But new research into some of dinosaurs' living relatives, like crocodiles, suggests that this method may not always work.

The preemptive declaration will establish a joint Texas New World Screwworm Response Team.