title: Changes of mercury contamination in red-crowned cranes, Grus japonensis, in East Hokkaido, Japan.
abstract: Red-crowned cranes (Grus japonensis) are native to eastern Hokkaido (island population), in contrast to the mainland, which migrates between the Amur River basin and eastern China-Korea peninsula. During the 1990s we found that Red-crowned cranes in Hokkaido were highly contaminated with mercury: however, the source was unknown. We investigated the time trend of mercury contamination in Red-crowned cranes. Total mercury levels in the livers and kidneys from cranes dead in the 2000s were lower than those dead in the 1990s. Feather is a major pathway of mercury excretion for many bird species and is used as an indicator of blood mercury level during feather growth. As internal organs from the specimens collected before 1988 were not available, we analyzed the flight feather shavings from stuffed Red-crowned cranes dead in 1959-1987 and found that the mercury level of feathers from cranes dead in the 1960s and 1970s was not more than those from the cranes dead in the 2000s. These results suggest that mercury contamination in Red-crowned cranes in Hokkaido decreased temporally during the 1990s-2000s. This indicates the possible occurrence of some mercury pollution in Red-crowned cranes' habitat in this region in the 1990s or before.
authors.affiliation: School of Veterinary Medicine, Rakuno Gakuen University, Ebetsu, Japan. hteraoka@rakuno.ac.jp
authors.forename: Hiroki
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Teraoka
authors.forename: Yukari
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Tagami
authors.forename: Moe
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Kudo
authors.forename: Yoshiaki
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Miura
authors.forename: Erika
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Okamoto
authors.forename: Fumio
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Matsumoto
authors.forename: Kimiya
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Koga
authors.forename: Akiko
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Uebayashi
authors.forename: Ryoji
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Shimura
authors.forename: Masako
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Inoue
authors.forename: Kunikazu
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Momose
authors.forename: Hiroyuki
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Masatomi
authors.forename: Takio
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Kitazawa
authors.forename: Takeo
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Hiraga
authors.forename: Annamalai
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Subramanian
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001717:Birds; D002681:China; D004784:Environmental Monitoring / Q000379:methods; D004785:Environmental Pollutants / Q000097:blood / Q000493:pharmacokinetics / Q000633:toxicity*; D005241:Feathers / Q000737:chemistry / Q000187:drug effects; D005260:Female; D007564:Japan; D007668:Kidney / Q000737:chemistry / Q000187:drug effects; D007723:Korea; D008099:Liver / Q000737:chemistry / Q000187:drug effects; D008297:Male; D008628:Mercury / Q000097:blood* / Q000493:pharmacokinetics / Q000633:toxicity*
chemical_list: D004785:Environmental Pollutants; D008628:Mercury