Atherosclerosis is a disease of the arteries characterized by the deposition of plaques of fatty material on their inner walls that affects birds and humans. Drs. Charlene Lujan Vega, a veterinarian and master’s student in the Avian Sciences Graduate Group, along with Drs. Michelle Hawkins (Director of the California Raptor Center) and Kevin Keel (Associate Professor of Pathology in the School of Veterinary Medicine) aim to retrospectively characterize this disease in tissues from non-releasable raptors that died of natural causes between 1986-2015. We will evaluate evidence of the disease and potential risk factors including family, age, gender, origin and cholesterol concentrations.
Holiday Hours
The California Raptor Center will be CLOSED Thursday 11/27 and Friday 11/28 for Thanksgiving (a University Holiday)
If you have found an injured bird, please call the California Raptor Center and leave a message
You can also contact your local Animal Services or refer to this list of local wildlife centers that may be able to assist you