The primary goal of a wildlife rehabilitation (WR) program is the release of injured animals back into the wild. Other important aspects of a WR program must be appreciated. These include advancement of medical knowledge, research, education, and conservation. Birds from a rehabilitation program may provide unique opportunities to learn about surgical techniques, medical treatments, management aspects, nutritional needs, or captive breeding and reintroduction programs as well as the functioning of a healthy environment. Wildlife rehabilitation may be incorporated into educational programs to teach the general public about the value of wildlife and the concepts of interdependence of all life forms. Therefore, the veterinarian (rehabilitator) who participates in WR with a focus on individual animals may also contribute to knowledge which may ultimately benefit whole populations and ensure preservation of a rich and diverse environment.

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The breeding population of Oriental white stork in Tajima area, Hyogo prefecture became extinct in 1971 due to habitat deterioration, food shortage and physiological damage by chemical substances for agriculture, etc. Captive breeding has succeeded since 1989 when it was 24 years after the breeding project started. In 1999, Hyogo prefectural homeland for the Oriental white stork was established at Toyooka-city as a re-introduction center for this species with conservation and propagation activities. To establish viable and free-ranging population in this area, we promote the propagation of captive storks with genetic and veterinary management, habitat restoration based on the ecosystem research, and education on creating environments where humans and wildlife coexist with a trans-disciplinary approach involving universities, zoos, NGO's, governmental agencies, and local bodies.

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The alien species are widely noticed as the primary factor that leads to the biodiversity loss. About 40 alien mammals live in Japan, and they cause many problems such as the agricultural damage, mediation of infectious diseases, genetic pollution by hybridization, removal of native species, predation pressure on native species, destruction of vegetation and outflow of soil. Prompt measures should be taken to deal with ever-increasing alien species in Japan. It is urgently necessary for our country to control animal breeders not to set animals free, and to make scientific and adaptive programs to eradicate or control the naturalized animals.

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The carcass of wild animals does not represent the targets of the biology today. Certainly the researchers of the molecular genetics and the ecology are interested in the carcasses as source of experimental materials, however, the carcass itself is not examined in the biological science. In this paper, we are trying to adapt the morphological science to the present status of the academism and the real society, and advocate the development of the carcass science. The carcass science starts from the unlimited collection of the animal carcasses, and its success will be dependent on the activity and ability of researchers. The carcass science will be accomplished by the continuous collection and curating of the specimens. We propose the above-mentioned new perspective to prevent the incineration of the animal carcasses and to sophisticate them to the eternal asset in the biology.

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We conducted a questionnaire survey on attitudes of carnivore investigators toward animal welfare for wild mammals. Most respondents were aware of the importance of animal welfare, and opined to need the research manuals concerning animal welfare and guidelines for the care of wild mammals in field research. Journal of Mammalogy and Animal Behaviour have established ethical committees for animal care and use. These committees have published and updated guidelines for animal welfare. It is important for these guidelines to include individuals as well as populations, ecosystems and investigators themselves in fieldwork. Although there are no guidelines for wildlife welfare in Japan, many investigators take a great interest in the wildlife welfare, and there is a movement of making guidelines for the care of wildlife. To establish effective guidelines for the care of wildlife, we need to have the ethical committee in the scientific society and more functional laws concerning wildlife.

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It is the principles of the attitude toward capturing wild animals in the field to show reverence for the wildlife composing the ecosystem. The capture of the wild animal must be done with the definite purpose only when the results are balanced against the adverse consequences associated with the conduct of the study. Predecessors' information based on their experiences are useful, and it must be done to collect the information about physiological and ecological characteristics of the object and the area ecosystem and design the research on basis of those issues. As for the capture, it is important to choose a means, time and a place, so that it can get the biggest effect in the minimum danger to be safe of the individual, to be safe of the worker and to think of the minimum influence to the circumference environment. Clearing a part assignment and a person in charge and doing the preparation not only which is the necessary minimum of tool, medicine and hands but also which can cope with the unexpected problem are important, and it is effective to do the extraction of the potential problem therefore by the simulation.

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Cutaneous lesions characterized by papules and purulent crusts were observed on the oro-nasal mucosa and skin in a herd of sheep maintained in a farm of mountainous area, Gifu Prefecture. The disease was diagnosed as contagenous papular dermatitis (CPD) caused by parapoxvirus based on histological examination, immunohistochemistry and PCR. Since wild Japanese serows (Capricornis crispus) living in this area had periodical outbreaks of parapoxvirus infections, the serows were suspected as one of reservoirs of the virus. To assess the possibility of viral transmissions from serows to sheep, the skin lesions collected from wild serows were inoculated to sheep. After inoculation on the lips of two three-month-old sheep, both animals had skin lesions similar to those in sheep with CPD after 5 th day of inoculation. One animal with dexamesathone treatment showed more severe disease. Histologically, cytoplasmic inclusion bodies were observed in the prickle cells in the skin lesions. Immunohistochemistry revealed positive reaction for parapoxvirus antigen, and PCR showed parapoxvirus DNA represented by 235 bp band in the lesions. In conclusion, parapoxvirus infection in wild Japanese serows was transmissible to juvenile sheep, particularly in immuno-suppressed animals. It was suggestive of an importance of the wildlife in infections of domestic animals.

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Recently, since most of zoo animals have been able to live longer owing to considerable improvement of keeping techniques, there have been more opportunities to find various kinds of tumors in zoo animals. It is quite useful to investigate tumor lesions in various zoo animals, and to accumulate information for research of comparative oncology. Now, we try to investigate spontaneous tumors in nonhuman primates, and gallbladder cancer occurred in two Asian bears, which might give useful information to human oncology studies. The outline of our investigation is as follows:
1) Spontaneous tumors in nonhuman primates : There have been only few reports of tumors in monkeys in Japan. We found 13 benign or malignant tumors in about 600 monkeys maintained in the zoos. In CNS, there was an astrocytoma in the brain of a Macaca fascicularis. In digestive system, and odontoameloblastoma in the mandible of a Macaca fuscata, a gastric cancer in a Brazza's guenon, and large bowel cancer in a white-handed gibbon and a capped langur were seen. In endocrine system, there were an adrenal myelolipoma in a cotton-top tamarin and a pancreatic endocrine carcinoma in a greater galago. In hematopoietic system, lymphomas in two Macaca fuscata and a white-nosed guenon were seen. Ovarian granulosa cell tumor in a Moor macaque and basal cell tumor in the skin of a Macaca fuscata were also seen. The morphology features of tumors were closely resembled to those in humans.
2) Gallbladder cancer in Asian bears : Gallbladder cancers were found in seven of two Asian bears, Melursus ursinus and Helarctos malayanus. All cancers were accompanied by prominent fibrosis. These tumors might be a useful model of human gallbladder cancer.

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The organotin compounds, tributyltin (TBT) and triphenyltin (TPT), are widely used as stabilizers for polyvinyl compounds, agricultural fungicides and antifouling paints for ships and fishing nets. Along with the rapid expansion in the use of these compounds, there is concern for environmental hazards. In humans and animals, TBT and TPT are known to cause various neurotoxic symptoms, such as tremors, convulsions, ataxia and spontaneous involuntary movement. There are, however, no or only minor histopathological changes in neuronal tissues and cells. Therefore, functional impairment of neurons seems to underlie the organotin neurotoxicity. Recently, we investigated the effects of four organotin compounds on tetrodotoxin-resistant, voltage-dependent Na channel, which plays a crucial role in the generation of action potentials, using whole-cell patch clamp techniques in dorsal root ganglion neurons. In this review, we will focus on the action of organotin compounds to modify the Na channel activity and discuss the mechanisms underlying organotin neurotoxicities.

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Although we typically think of mammals as homeotherms that maintain a constant body temperature of about 37℃, the reality is that various species, scattered among the orders of the class Mammalia, are considered to be "hibernators". Hibernation is an unusual physiological phenomenon which occurs under stress conditions such as hypothermia, hypoxia or ischaemia. The exact definition of "hibernation" is open to considerable argument since it has a physiological spectrum from the black bear (Ursus americanus) which remains inactive most of the winter but lowers its body temperature only 3 or 4℃ to the smaller rodents which remain virtually motionless for days with a body temperature near 0℃ (deep hibernation). In deep hibernation, animals undergo a dramatic drop in body temperature and a fall in heart and respiratory rates. Despite this decline, the peripheral vascular resistance increases with deepening hibernation to keep the blood pressure within a reasonable range, and it has been thought that an increase in viscosity of blood and responsiveness of vasculature to noradrenaline are the major contributing factors for this regulation. However, recent studies have shown that other factors such as enhancement of sympathetic neurotransmission and modulation of endothelial function may also be involved in the regulation.

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It is being clarified that endocrine disruptors which were produced by human being accumulated without decomposition in the environment for a long time and affected reproduction of human and wild animals. DDT as a organochlorine pesticide, PCBs as industrial products, dioxins as non-intensive products and DES as a synthetic estrogen are categorized into the endocrine disruptor. Population decline of alligators in Lake Apopka in U.S.A., decrease of reproductive rate in mink and river otters, thinning of eggshell or decrease of hatching rate in raptors, large-number death in dolphin and seals, imposex in rock shells, intersex in carps and decrease of reproductive ability and intersex in polar bears have been reported to be caused by the endocrine disruptors. In Japan, the survey on affection of the endocrine disruptor, including dioxins to the wildlife, which started in 1998, yielded the results that some chemicals known as endocrine disruptors were accumulated in many wild animals, especially marine mammals and raptors. Further studies on affection of the endocrine disruptor to the wildlife are necessary in order to resolve this important problem concerning the human and wildlife.

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Mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) is generally known to be an invaluable indicator for studying population genetics within species as well as phylogenetic relationships among species. In addition to these facts, we here demonstrated that a region of variable number of tandem repeats (VNTRs) within the golden eagle (Aquila chrysaetos) mtDNA is so highly polymorphic between individuals that the VNTRs may provide a genetic marker to aid in identification of individuals in conjunction with other markers. The VNTRs were found to adjoin the 3' end of the phylogentically informative part of the mtDNA control region in the golden eagle. The array of VNTRs consisted of 49 or 50-base motifs, of which copy numbers and sequences were variable between individuals and within individuals (heteroplasmy). From 21 wild-caught and captive-born golden eagles, 11 motifs were identified based on two polymorphic nucleotide sites out of 49 or 50 bases. Pedigree analysis using captive-born golden eagles suggested maternal inheritance of the VNTRs. No sequence differences between tissues of the same eagles were observed. Consequently, 16 haplotypes were found from 19 possibly unfamilial eagles. Our results indicated that the VNTRs within the golden eagle mtDNA evolve much more rapidly than does the 5' part of the control region.

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We compared the skull of the kouprey with that of the other bovines (the Mishima cattle, yak, banteng and gaur) and investigated the morphological characters of the bovines. A significant difference in DHT, DFS, LFB and GBN were found in the cranium of Mishima cattle. A significant difference in SCL, GLN, GTD, LFB, GBN, LDH(L) and LDH(R) were observed in the cranium of yak. A significant difference in DHT, GBN, GDH(L), GDH(R) and LDH(L) were confirmed in the cranium of banteng. The significant difference in GBN/MFL is admitted among the other bovines. From these results, the Mishima cattle may have small between the tips of the horn sheath, and the width of the skull may be also small compared with the other bovines. The tips of the horn sheath in the kouprey may be broader than those of the other bovines.

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Coccidian oocysts were obtained from 13 of 260 feral raccoons (Procyon lotor) examined in Hokkadio, Japan. Among them, at least, Eimeria cf. procyonis and Isospora ohioensis were identified. These are first records of the genus Eimeria from feral raccoons alien species in Japan, and of I. ohioensis from the raccoon. Furthermore, prevalence of seropositive reactions to Toxoplasma gondii was studied by latex-agglutination test, and 13.5% to 15.0% of 248 raccoons were positive. The prevalence in Hokkaido is lower than one of North America.

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