Except now, when its absence is becoming a reality for some areas in Perth and south Western Australia.<\/p>\n
\u201cMagpies<\/a> could actually disappear from entire suburbs,\u201d says WA Wildlife chief executive Dean Huxley.<\/p>\n That\u2019s only the beginning.<\/p>\n Supportive care for the magpies who make it to WA Wildlife Hospital includes putting splints on their feet to prevent muscle atrophy.Credit: WA Wildlife\/Dean Huxley<\/p>\n Two years ago, Huxley, who has been in wildlife rescue and rehabilitation for 17 years, realised a \u201chuge problem\u201d was on his hands.<\/p>\n Since about 2018, a smattering of magpies had been admitted to his Bibra Lake hospital with neurological symptoms including weakness, the inability to stand or co-ordinate movements, leg or wing paralysis and, in advanced cases, difficulty breathing or lifting their head.<\/p>\n Loading<\/p>\n But the spring and summer of 2023 was \u201cwhen our data just went off the charts\u201d.<\/p>\n \u201cWe went from maybe five to 10 a month to all of a sudden seeing 70 to 100 birds a month,\u201d says Huxley. \u201cIt really escalated quite fast in a 12-month period.\u201d<\/p>\n Late 2024 brought another surge in admissions, making it the busiest year on record for WA Wildlife and other wildlife centres in the area. Huxley says hospital admissions this spring are already on par with last year\u2019s numbers.<\/p>\n Are magpies going extinct?<\/p>\n \u201cWe don\u2019t know what the syndrome is and what\u2019s causing it,\u201d says Huxley. \u201cThere could be a whole host of factors that could be causing that spike.\u201d<\/p>\n Researchers at Murdoch University, in collaboration with wildlife centres and organisations including Wildlife Health Australia, are investigating the cause of the syndrome.<\/p>\n Huxley says a local extinction \u2013 when a species no longer exists in a particular area \u2013 is entirely possible in Perth and its surrounds, though it would be a stretch to say magpies, as a whole, would become extinct.<\/p>\n Most birds, depending on how far along they are when they get treatment, can survive the syndrome with supportive care \u2013 fluid therapy, assist feeds, vitamin injections, physiotherapy and splints applied to feet to prevent muscle atrophy \u2013 over three to four weeks.<\/p>\n Of the birds who make it to WA Wildlife, Huxley is seeing a 50 to 60 per cent survival rate, though there is pressure for veterinarians to rehabilitate the magpies as quickly as possible. Magpies are known to be \u201cvery territorial\u201d, and if they\u2019re kept in care for too long, their tribe rejects them.<\/p>\n What is needed is prevention, which can only come with knowing the cause. An update from Murdoch University is expected in the coming weeks \u2013 and scientists and wildlife watchers across the country are eagerly awaiting the findings.<\/p>\n Most birds admitted to WA Wildlife Hospital survive the mystery magpie paralysis syndrome, but not all birds affected are rescued and brought into care in time. Dean Huxley says the magpie\u2019s immune system \u201cdoes all the work\u201d when it comes to healing, which is aided by supportive care from veterinarians.Credit: WA Wildlife\/Dean Huxley<\/p>\n While there have been no reported cases of this mystery magpie paralysis syndrome outside of south WA, Queensland and NSW have been grappling with mystery syndromes of their own.<\/p>\n Loading<\/p>\n In Sydney and its surrounds in 2003 and 2015, there were outbreaks of black and white syndrome \u2013 a neurological condition with symptoms similar to the mystery magpie paralysis syndrome in WA, though there is not enough evidence to suggest they are the same.<\/p>\n \u201cWe still haven\u2019t found the culprit,\u201d says Dr Tania Bishop, a wildlife veterinarian of 26 years who works in disease investigation in Wildlife Health Australia (Bishop is not directly involved with the WA investigation).<\/p>\n Bishop says black and white syndrome, which affects black and white birds including currawongs, crows, ravens and magpies, but not ibis, presents similar to non-suppurative encephalitis (inflammation of the brain), Japanese encephalitis virus and West Nile virus, though what was causing the inflammation is unknown.<\/p>\n Separately, community centres in south-east Queensland and northern NSW were overwhelmed with an \u201cincredibly aggressive\u201d lorikeet paralysis syndrome outbreak in early 2024, which continued into this year.<\/p>\n While the symptoms are similar, Wildlife Health Australia warns against identifying the three as the same paralysis syndrome.<\/p>\n However, scientists, veterinarians, rescuers and researchers across Australia are exchanging notes about diagnostic and treatment methods for all of them in the race to pinpoint their causes \u2013 and prevent them from spreading.<\/p>\n While in Darwin, Northern Territory, there have been isolated cases of clinical signs consistent with lorikeet paralysis syndrome, evidence of the other two paralysis syndromes has not been reported.<\/p>\n Wildlife Victoria says aside from three ravens in Healesville with matching clinical signs to black and white syndrome in 2006, no other cases of the syndromes have been reported in the state.<\/p>\n \u2018The environment is sick, it\u2019s not well, and we need to look at why \u2026 what are we doing to cause such sickness at a holistic level?\u2019<\/p>\n Dean Huxley, WA Wildlife chief executive<\/p>\n Tasmania and South Australia have not reported any incidents of the three paralytic syndromes. Dr Anne Fowler, of the Adelaide Bird and Exotics Vet Centre, attributes this, in South Australia at least, to low humidity, with record dryness making it difficult for diseases seen elsewhere in the country to take hold in the state\u2019s wild birds.<\/p>\n Bishop says that will change as more extreme weather events put pressure on the environment \u2013 not only do severe storms and apocalyptic fires put psychological and physical stress on wildlife, weakening their immune systems, but insect distribution changing and flowers blooming before breeding season means malnutrition is more common.<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019re seeing an increase in these \u2026 previously thought to be tropical or insect-based viruses further and further south \u2026 places they never used to be before,\u201d says Bishop.<\/p>\n Loading<\/p>\n What does this mystery magpie paralysis syndrome mean for humans?<\/p>\n Although Bishop says there is no reason to believe humans can contract the paralysis syndromes, that doesn\u2019t mean there is no risk to humans.<\/p>\n \u201cBirds breathe air at a much finer level than we do, so if there\u2019s something wrong in the environment, they seem to get affected by it first,\u201d says Melbourne wildlife ecologist and Why Do Birds Sing? author Dr Gr\u00e1inne Cleary.<\/p>\n \u201cThis is a warning, and we need to pay attention to it.\u201d<\/p>\n Cleary likens the mystery magpie paralysis syndrome to a canary in a coal mine, an assessment Huxley agrees with. He says it screams of a wider issue.<\/p>\n What to do if you see a sick or injured birdDo not touch or move the bird \u2013 this could further injure it, or put yourself at risk of exposure to illnessCall a helpline \u2013 1800 675 888 is a national hotline that can direct you to local assistance \u2013 but it\u2019s better if you know your local number or search \u201cwildlife rescue near me\u201d onlineRecord what you see \u2013 take many photos and videos that are preferably geotagged, so rescue groups and researchers can pinpoint hotspots more accuratelyCover it \u2013 put a towel, sheet, reusable bag, washing basket or cardboard box (with air holes) over it. This helps reduce stress, prevent shock and protect it from predators and other environmental factorsIf you need to move a bird out of harm\u2019s way, make sure your hands are covered and, preferably, you\u2019re wearing a face maskBe kind to wildlife rescuers \u2013 organisations are largely run by volunteers, and rescuers and veterinarians doing this work out of charity<\/p>\n \u201cPeople forget that our health as humans is greatly dependent on the health of the environment we live in, and when we start to see things like this … it\u2019s a better reflection of the health of that ecosystem as opposed to that particular species,\u201d says Huxley.<\/p>\n \u201cWe need to look at this as a bit of a red flag for what could happen to other species and then ourselves down the track.\u201d<\/p>\n Huxley says the rate of disease emergence in the Perth metro area is increasing, with more cataracts occurring in kangaroos, neurological symptoms in western grey kangaroos, mange in quendas and shingleback nidovirus in bobtails.<\/p>\n \u201cThe environment is sick, it\u2019s not well, and we need to look at why is it so unwell and what are we doing to cause such sickness at a holistic level?\u201d<\/p>\n What happens now?<\/p>\n Not all hope is lost, and as Murdoch University continues its investigation into the mystery magpie paralysis in WA, information is power.<\/p>\n Magpies can recover from the paralysis syndrome if admitted to a wildlife hospital in time. Pictured here are magpies in pre-release at WA Wildlife Hospital. Credit: WA Wildlife\/Dean Huxley<\/p>\n Participating in the Aussie Bird Count<\/a> \u2013 where BirdLife Australia asks you to spend 20 minutes counting birds outdoors before October 26 \u2013 is one way to help, as is keeping an eye out for sick and injured birds.<\/p>\n Loading<\/p>\n \u201cIf you approach a bird that doesn\u2019t immediately stand to attention or go to fly away, or at least hop away, and you know it\u2019s looking at you, then it\u2019s in trouble,\u201d says Bishop.<\/p>\n \u201cIt needs you to call somebody to help it.\u201d<\/p>\n![\"Supportive](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/802d1b9331d535fc91a7c3ce7eb0b9d188c5d6de16ffac51858753bb8b380792.jpeg\")
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