§ Mr. AingerTo ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what direct support in(a) cash and (b) other forms his Department has offered to organisations actively engaged in caring for ill and injured seals in the United Kingdom. [7390]
§ Mr. Clappison[holding answer 3 December 1996]From a search of available information, my Department has not directly offered any cash support to organisations actively involved in caring for ill and injured seals in the United Kingdom. However, in conjunction with the Welsh Office, my Department is providing significant funding for investigations of marine mammal strandings, including seals, in England and Wales in order to monitor causes of disease and death and changes in their patterns of incidence.
§ Mr. AingerTo ask the Secretary of State for the Environment how many post mortems carried out on seals from west Wales have established the presence of the herpes virus in the last two months. [7392]
§ Mr. Clappison[holding answer 3 December 1996]Five post mortems were conducted on grey seals washed up on the west Wales coast in the last two months under the Government-funded marine mammals strandings project. None of the carcases had lesions consistent with seal herpes virus infection. Post mortem examination of a larger number of carcases was not possible due in some cases to the decomposed state of the stranded animals and others being washed back to sea before collection was possible.
§ Mr. AingerTo ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what requests his Department has received for help from organisations actively involved in caring for ill or injured seals in the last 10 years. [7394]
§ Mr. Clappison[holding answer 3 December 1996]From a search of available information, my Department appears not to have received any requests for help from organisations actively involved in caring for ill and injured seals in the last 10 years.
§ Mr. AingerTo ask the Secretary of State for the Environment how many post mortems have been carried794W out on dead seals on his Department's behalf by the Zoological Society of London and by Liverpool university in each of the last five years. [7391]
§ Mr. Clappison[holding answer 3 December 1996]The table records the numbers of post mortem examinations of stranded seals which the Zoological Society of London has carried out under contract to my Department during the last five years.
England Wales Halichoerus Halichoerus Year Phoca vitulina (Common seal) grypus (Grey seal) Phoca vitulina (Common seal) grypus (Grey seal) 1991 0 10 1 8 1992 0 5 0 26 1993 4 15 0 15 1994 1 4 0 20 1995 1 3 0 5 1996 0 1 0 5 Total 6 38 1 79
§ Mr. AingerTo ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will make it his policy to provide information gained from post mortem reports on dead seals to those individuals and organisations actively engaged in caring for seals; and if he will make a statement. [7393]
§ Mr. Clappison[holding answer 3 December 1996]Results of post mortem investigations carried out as part of the Government-funded marine mammals strandings project are periodically published in scientific journals. Data are also available via published annual and five-yearly reports.
§ Mr. AingerTo ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what(a) discussions and (b) exchanges of information have taken place between his Department and the seal rehabilitation and research centre, Pieterburen, the Netherlands, and Professor Osterhaus of Erasmus university, Rotterdam, about the discovery of a herpes virus in dead Atlantic grey seal pups washed ashore in south-west Wales in recent weeks. [7395]
§ Mr. Clappison[holding answer 3 December 1996]No discussions or exchanges of information have taken place between my Department and the seal rehabilitation and research centre, Pieterburen, or Professor Osterhaus or Erasmus university, Rotterdam. However, under the marine mammals strandings project, results of post mortem investigations are made available via published articles and reports. The information contributes to an international pool of knowledge on the autecology of marine mammal species.