Cook County’s forest preserves are much loved for their picnic groves and trails. Not as well known: The role the preserves have as a research hub and early warning system of sorts against zoonotic diseases.
Rabies, ebola and swine flu are just a few examples of the diseases that pass from an animal or insect to humans. As guardians of 70,000 acres of wildlife habitat, district biologists are well positioned to collect the samples needed to monitor for any signs of contagion.
It’s easy enough to tell if a bird is well-fed versus emaciated, but to learn more about the subject’s condition, biologists also gather tissue and blood samples, a process that’s become less and less invasive over the years. This information also can be used to assess the success of restoration and conservation efforts and to direct future habitat management projects.
He credits an “alignment of the stars” in Cook County: For starters, there’s the foresight people had 100-plus years ago to create the forest preserves in the midst of the nation’s third largest metropolis. “Plus, we’re adjacent to the Great Lakes, with all these resources and habitat types.”
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