Currently in Japan, there is no established systemic approach for management of serious infectious diseases in wild animals, because it is not easy to monitor or control them, and they are often the exempts from existing laws and regulations. Under the circumstances, highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) viruses were detected from wild birds in various regions in Japan during 2010. When the outbreak of HPAI in wild cranes was confirmed in Kagoshima prefecture, Japanese Society of Zoo and Wildlife Medicine (JSZWM) dispatched experts to the scene in response to a request from Ministry of the Environment. With the efforts of many members, JSZWM achieved solid results, but some problems were revealed at the same time. Here we provide the following five reports to examine our approach. 1) The progress and discussing the issue report of HPAI in swan and duck in Hokkaido (Yukiko Watanabe), 2) A status and countermeasure of the JSZWM on the occurrence of HPAI in Izumi, Kagoshima (Toshio Tsubota), 3) The progress and discussing the issue report of HPAI in crane in Kagoshima (Daisuke Fukui), 4) Avian influenza virus surveillance and researches by National Institute for Environmental Studies (Manabu Onuma), 5) How to cope with HPAI in wild birds by Ministry of the Environment? (Mai Yamamoto）, Based on above reports, Koichi Murata, as the president of JSZWM, made the following recommendations to improve the management of infectious diseases in wild animals. He recommended 1) to arrange the related Acts that accompany with wildlife infectious diseases, 2) to make the collaboration and coordination among the ministries and agencies concerned with wildlife infectious diseases, 3) to set up the National Wildlife Health Center, 4) to create the early warning system for wildlife infectious diseases, 5) to create the network of research for wildlife infectious diseases, and 6) to improve the educational environment for wildlife infectious diseases.

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Small birds like Passeriformes sometimes exhibit fractures in the tibiotarsus of their legs. Within 3 to 4 days after the injury occurring, the fractured bones can be reset by pulling the bones back to the original position. While pulling the bone, cyanoacrylate is applied to the feathers. The cyanoacrylate should only be applied to the fracture site and should not be applied to other joints. An Elizabeth-collar is fitted around the bird's neck. After the operation is completed,the bird can be returned to a cage with perches. The Elizabeth-collar can be taken off 10 days later. This new approaches can be applied to the bone fractures of femurs, tarsometatarsus and phalanges of Passeriformes.

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Winter season of 2011, the outbreak of highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI, H5N1) both in Japan and South Korea was completely different from those of past several years. After the occurrence of HPAI (H5N1) in Japan at 2004 in Yamaguchi prefecture etc., the positive cases of HPAI virus detection in wild birds was 1 to 3 cases per year. The same time, an outbreak of HPAI had been observed 1 to 4 cases per year in poultry farms. From the autumn of 2010 until the spring of 2011, however, 60 cases of wild birds consisting of 15 species were detected to be positive for HPAI virus, and 24 outbreaks of HPAI in poultry farms had been reported. It has been an abnormal frequency of HPAI infections. It seemed to be emerging from migratory birds coming from the north and gradually spread to the resident wild birds such as raptors. A similar trend may also occur after 2012. The possibility that rare bird species maintained in the zoo may be included in HPAI outbreak cannot be denied. The rare birds of the zoo are not applicable to the poultry defined by the MAFF, and they are not also adapted to the wild birds defined by the Ministry of Environment. They are outlaw of Ministries. Vaccines for HPAI have been stockpiled and new vaccines also have been developed in Japan. In order to protect the rare birds of the zoo from infection with HPAI, it is important to discuss whether or not to be vaccinating rare birds with avian influenza inactivated vaccine. This symposium is opened with a following concept. Now is the time that we should decide the measures for protection of rare birds in the zoo from HPAI outbreak.

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There have been four times since 2004 that infections of highly pathogenic H5N1 avian influenza virus (HPAIV) were detected in wild birds in Japan. The HPAIV infection of jungle crows in 2004 was considered as secondary infection from chickens. However, infections of a mountain hawk eagle in 2007 and whooper swans in 2008 suggested that HPAIV infection existed among wild birds. From October 2008, a nationwide survey of wild birds on HPAIV, including monitoring of abnormal mortality and HPAIV detection from wild waterfowl feces and from dead birds, has started. As a result of this survey, HPAIV was isolated from 63 birds of 17 species of waterfowl and raptors in 17 prefectures of Japan from December 2010 to March 2011. Among the 63 birds infected, there were three exotic swans kept in open water under captivity. In all four occasions, epidemiological relationships of HPAIV infections between Japan and Korea, Mongolia and central Russia were indicated from the genetic feature of the viruses. For the HPAIV monitoring in Japan, swans and tufted ducks looked like suitable species for early detection. It was suspected that the dead birds examined were only a small part of the actually infected wild birds. If birds in captivity are sharing environments with wild birds, it will not be possible to prevent infection. Those who are responsible for keeping wild bird species in captivity, especially in open water, will need fundamental reconsideration of management methods.

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In recent years, many cases of highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) infections in both domestic and wild birds are being reported in Japan. Not only the HPAI but also the variety of other serious infectious diseases has been major problem for the wild animals. Since zoos and aquariums are keeping various species from all over the world which include a lot of rare species listed in CITES Appendices or IUCN Red List, there is an urgent need to establish the effective measures against infectious diseases that can occur in the captive wild animals. However captive wild animals cannot be treated in the same way as farm animals or pet animals in terms of their rarity and diversity, therefore different approaches are needed to protect them from infections. Concerning the infectious disease control, vaccination is one of the reasonable options. In some cases vaccines for some specific diseases cannot be used for farm animals because of the legal restrictions or governmental directions, but they can be effective measures for the wild animals in captivity by taking into consideration the target species and the purpose of keeping.

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We conducted a retrospective study of 16 northern goshawks admitted to the Wildlife Rescue Center, Gifu University, during 2004～2008. Common medical problems were paralysis of both legs due to spinal cord injury (25％) and bone fracture in the wing (19％). The most common type of events causing the injury was collision with an artificial structure other than a vehicle (69％). Other causes were traffic accidents (13％) and flying into buildings (13％). Of the 16 individuals, 75％ died, 19％ were released back into the wild and 6％ remained in permanent captivity as they were diagnosed unable to live in wild.

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The first and second dorsal fins of living coelacanths were studied using three-dimensional reconstructed images, while the sectional areas of the epaxial and hypaxial musculatures and the musculature related to the first and peculiar to the second dorsal fins were measured by image analyzing methods. The musculature related to the first dorsal fin was not enlarged to the lepidotrichia beyond the dorsal margin of the trunk; however, the fin rays consisting of lepidotrichia were supported by bone plate of the trunk. The two bones of the trunk supported the four bone elements of the second dorsal fin, in which the peculiar musculature was developed from the trunk area to the bone elements. The first dorsal fin may function as a passive stabilizer controlled by the relatively smaller musculature from the bone plate of the trunk and the mechanical articulation between the bone plate of the trunk and lepidotrichia. In contrast, the second dorsal fin represented an active generator of thrust during slow locomotion. We suggest that the active power generator of the sarcopterygian fin may be required in the second dorsal fin at the caudal region of the trunk, which possesses fewer epaxial and hypaxial muscles than the cranial region where the first dorsal fin is located.

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An adult female Amami rabbit (Pentalagus furnessi) with vestibular disorder was rescued in March 2010 and died six days after rescue. Pathological examination revealed chronic suppurative otitis media/interna in the right ear, and it was considered to be a cause of vestibular disorder.

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