Human & Animal Health

At UC Davis, wood ducks are known among students majoring in wildlife, fish and conservation biology as the wildlife model for an internship program run by Professor John Eadie. Each year, from 50 to 90 interns learn how to check nests, measure eggs, band birds, collect blood samples and conduct field research on waterfowl behavior, reproduction and survival. 

Wild horses face an uncertain future on the mainland

It's hot at El Campeon Farms, even for early August. A hard wind accompanies the heat, blowing through the Conejo Valley, where this horse ranch sits in Southern California. Abby Followwill is saddled on a horse named Vince. His golden-brown coat and blond mane stand out against the saturated blue sky and dusty corral where Followwill is training with him.

Safety of birds, people, at stake, a UC Davis study suggests

Historically, keeping backyard chickens was a response to economic hardship — whether it was in the Depression or during wartime food rationing.

Seafood is low in fat, high in protein, and a great source of Omega 3 fatty acids, which doctors say can boost brain development and help prevent ailments like depression, arthritis, and heart disease.

Health benefits are one reason people are eating more fish. The United Nations reports that global per capita fish consumption has hit a record high and continues to climb.

Can fisheries sustainably keep up with rising demand? What is “sustainable seafood” anyway?

The novel research, funded by a $2.7 million grant from the National Institutes of Health, could improve the well-being of thousands of families in this growing yet underserved population.

Thirty-three koi swim in sanitized tanks at the UC Davis Center for Aquatic Biology and Aquaculture (CABA). They are refugees from fires that ravaged hundreds of thousands of acres in Santa Rosa and throughout the wine country, destroying more than 6,000 homes.

“In some cases, the fish were rescued from homes that were completely burned down, so the koi are all that are left,” says CABA Director Linda Deanovic, lifting a tank lid to peer inside at a golden, incandescent koi.

Remote sensing technology has detected what could be a win for both spotted owls and forestry management, according to a study led by the University of California, Davis, the USDA Forest Service Pacific Southwest Research Station and the University of Washington.

New Cooling Technologies Tested at UC Davis Dairy Facility

Innovative cooling technologies tested on dairy cows at the University of California, Davis, are addressing the long-standing challenge of keeping dairy cows cool in heat-stressed California.

Researchers hope fencing improvements will stop tortoise deaths from road traffic.

Desert tortoises pace back and forth and can overheat by roadside fencing meant to help them, according to a study published in the journal Biological Conservation by the University of California, Davis, and the University of Georgia.

Study Reveals Evolutionary History of Imperiled Salmon Stocks

New technologies for analyzing DNA may transform how imperiled species are considered and managed for conservation protection, according to a study published today in the journal Science Advances and led by the University of California, Davis.