CWD in deer and elk

Here is a great article on the current state of affairs concerning CWD in Montana and Wyoming. A long read, but well worth the time.

http://mountainjournal.org/chronic-wasting-disease-hits-montana

Vito

Will be very interesting to see how this plays out over time.
Thanks for the article, Vito.

Since CWD is related to mad cow and the Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease which both are basically derived from severely unnatural behaviors (mad cow from cows eating offal from other cows and Jakob from human cannibals), what is it that we are doing that is so unnatural to have caused CWD to gain traction? Is it winter feed grounds, too much baiting back east, an unnaturally inflated whitetail deer herd from the midwest/east, game farms? Very interesting to see what the root cause ends up being in the end relative to the other diseases.

The science is not conclusive enough for me to have a strong opinion either way, but I do think the reasons against feed-grounds outnumber the reason for them. I think nature usually does best without human interference. I also think elk area 7 is a good counter-example to the alarmists who want to "do SOMETHING." The herd is doing just fine, despite being a region with relatively high CWD prevalence. Again, I think nature usually does best without human interference. I think the best approach is to keep arguing and keep studying but hold off on the interfering, including interfering via maintaining feedgrounds.

375H&H said:

Since CWD is related to mad cow and the Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease which both are basically derived from severely unnatural behaviors (mad cow from cows eating offal from other cows and Jakob from human cannibals), what is it that we are doing that is so unnatural to have caused CWD to gain traction? Is it winter feed grounds, too much baiting back east, an unnaturally inflated whitetail deer herd from the midwest/east, game farms? Very interesting to see what the root cause ends up being in the end relative to the other diseases.

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We may never be able to conclusively identify the origin or CWD, but all evidence has led back to a Colorado disease research facility.
Sheep with scrapies were held alongside mule deer. It is believed that within this facility the scrapies mutated and infected the Mule deer. These deer were subsequently shipped across North America as well as released to the general area around the facility.

Winter feeding, baiting, high populations.... these are issues that concern increased dispersal of the disease. The greater there contact rate between infected and non-infected animals, the faster the disease will spread.

Game farms are a separate and particularly egregious vector for CWD transmission. Infected animals have been shipped all across the country.... most newly identified wild cwd positive populations have been traced back to exposure to diseased game farms....

At it's core, if game farms were abolished before CWD existed, there would NOT be a CWD problem.

I find it interesting that they predict our local deer and elk herds could become extinct from CWD when population numbers are high right now and ratios are healthy for our herds. We manage a ranch all around the Sybille facility and do not find sick animals regularly, we have definitely seen and reported CWD cow elk to the G&F at Sybille but the herds are not being decimated. Elk numbers are above objective in this area and mule deer are not disappearing. Yes deer numbers are not what they were 20 years ago but then there were not 35 acres lots being developed from ranches taking away valuable forage and winter range.
CWD has always been around just not identified til it was brought in to study at Sybille.
Once it is in the environment it is here to stay, abolishing game farms will not stop it. Feed grounds are another story, CWD is not the only disease they spread.

wytex said:

I find it interesting that they predict our local deer and elk herds could become extinct from CWD when population numbers are high right now and ratios are healthy for our herds. We manage a ranch all around the Sybille facility and do not find sick animals regularly, we have definitely seen and reported CWD cow elk to the G&F at Sybille but the herds are not being decimated. Elk numbers are above objective in this area and mule deer are not disappearing. Yes deer numbers are not what they were 20 years ago but then there were not 35 acres lots being developed from ranches taking away valuable forage and winter range.
CWD has always been around just not identified til it was brought in to study at Sybille.
Once it is in the environment it is here to stay, abolishing game farms will not stop it. Feed grounds are another story, CWD is not the only disease they spread.

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Yes, that Mountain Journal article was informative, but downright depressing in their predictions of possible ungulate extinction. If supplemental feeding were to be stopped at the Elk Refuge, I wonder how long it would take for fewer elk to congregate there? I imagine elk would always migrate there from relatively far distances since it is historic winter range and can support a decent number of elk even without feeding.

wytex said:

I find it interesting that they predict our local deer and elk herds could become extinct from CWD when population numbers are high right now and ratios are healthy for our herds. We manage a ranch all around the Sybille facility and do not find sick animals regularly, we have definitely seen and reported CWD cow elk to the G&F at Sybille but the herds are not being decimated. Elk numbers are above objective in this area and mule deer are not disappearing. Yes deer numbers are not what they were 20 years ago but then there were not 35 acres lots being developed from ranches taking away valuable forage and winter range.

CWD has always been around just not identified til it was brought in to study at Sybille.


Once it is in the environment it is here to stay, abolishing game farms will not stop it. Feed grounds are another story, CWD is not the only disease they spread.

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That is just an old wives' tale.


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Wytex,

CWD is a new disease to science and we just don't know how individual herds will respond. We are going to learn as time goes by.

Recent testing has shown some herds to have infection rates over 50%, with buck infection rates even higher. The resulting shortened life span of the population is a great concern. Population modelling with infection rates this high do show a strong potential for herds to die out.

We cannot view this disease as we do others such as Blue Tongue or EHD, which kill quickly and disappear from the system for a term. CWD is insidious and forever, how and if deer can survive the disease is still an unknown.

This is not even touching the human health concerns if CWD ever becomes infectious to people.

IF CWD is proven to infect people, the CDC WILL move forward with a scorched earth policy.

IF CWD is proven to infect people, the MILLIONS of acres that are already CWD positive may become unsuitable to crow crops for human consumption.


Think about it....

The potential ramification are mind boggling.


Re. game farms, while the cat is already out of the bag, the immediate elimination of ALL game farms and transportation of deer/elk will ABSOLUTELY slow down the spread of CWD into areas that are currently uninfected.

walking buffalo said:

Think about it....

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I think what many hunters wonder, even those who are concerned and generally engaged, is what to do after they've thought about it. Most disapprove of artificial congregation already.