"Feeding the Problem" Presentation in Bozeman

[katqanna]

The Gallatin Wildlife Association is hosting a presentation of "Feeding the Problem", the 20 minute documentary of the Elk feeding grounds in Wyoming and how this is affecting the elk populations, concerning brucellosis and chronic wasting disease - Thursday, April 18th, 7:00PM, Bozeman Public Library (Free and Open to the Public). Chronic Wasting Disease is nearby and will seriously ravage our elk herds through these feed grounds.

Guest speakers with presentations following and available for Q & A will be: Dr. Mark Albrecht, DVM, member of the Montana Elk Brucellosis Working Group; Dr. Thomas J. Roffe, PhD, DVM, US Fish and Wildlife Service, Chief of Wildlife Health; and Lloyd Dorsey, the Greater Yellowstone Coalition.

For more information: the Gallatin Wildlife Association

 

[RobG]

FYI.... this is tomorrow (Thursday) night. I'll probably go. Anyone else?

 

[RUT JUNKEY]

CWD is the real deal guys. We have had it here in Indiana in a few counties south of me and it literally decimated their deer population. I believe they have had it in Wisconsin and Minnesota recently also. I hope you don't have to deal with that in your elk herd.

 

[katqanna]

Last I hear, and this was in the fall, CWD was 15 miles from the Wyoming feed grounds, a ticking time bomb for the elk, not to mention a natural breeding ground for brucellosis and other diseases. We already know that the Montana infected cattle herds over the years, have been infected with brucellosis that has the elk genotype, which is why this legislature and the livestock associations were already putting out elk in their sites with test and slaughter bills, like HB 312. They will not give up.

Seropositive (testing positive for antibodies to exposure to brucellosis) does not make an elk, or bison for that matter, infectious and capable of spreading brucellosis to the cattle, yet that bill sought to test for seropositive and kill all that were positive. Males cannot even spread this. We need to be educated, and aware of what we can do to protect our elk herds, which have been shown by radio collars to migrate as far south as the Wyoming feed grounds and then back up to Montana for the rest of the year.

 

[1_pointer]

CWD is the real deal guys. We have had it here in Indiana in a few counties south of me and it literally decimated their deer population. I believe they have had it in Wisconsin and Minnesota recently also. I hope you don't have to deal with that in your elk herd.

I think you might be confusing CWD with EHD. I know there have been a few breakouts of EHD in certain areas over the past decade or so. However, I cannot find any reference to CWD being present in Indiana nor has the DNR confirmed that it is here.

http://www.in.gov/dnr/fishwild/5466.htm

 

[RUT JUNKEY]

I think you might be confusing CWD with EHD. I know there have been a few breakouts of EHD in certain areas over the past decade or so. However, I cannot find any reference to CWD being present in Indiana nor has the DNR confirmed that it is here.

http://www.in.gov/dnr/fishwild/5466.htm

You are correct 1PT, my bad. Either way, they will both destroy a herd in a hurry.
(The DNR doesn't confirm releasing bobcats here either)

 

[Topgun 30-06]

EHD is the quick and nasty killer that can decimate a herd quickly. They haven't even come up with a solid basis of how CWD is spread and very few animals have died from it. Wisconsin did a knee jerk reaction a few years ago and tried to wipe out every deer in the state and now they have figured out how big a mistake they made, but their DNR will never publicly admit it.

 

[RobG]

FWIW it is worth, Mark just had an article in the latest MWF newsletter that arrived yesterday. He and the rest of the active GWA crew know a lot about the brucellosis issue in elk. This is a serious issue that could negatively affect elk hunters (remember HB 312, test/slaughter elk). I found talking with them very educational - things like how the bacteria becomes hot when elk are close to birthing, sero-positive doesn't necessarily mean contagious, the FWP studies, etc, so come pick their brain about that if nothing else.

 

[whyelkhunt]

EHD is the quick and nasty killer that can decimate a herd quickly. They haven't even come up with a solid basis of how CWD is spread and very few animals have died from it. Wisconsin did a knee jerk reaction a few years ago and tried to wipe out every deer in the state and now they have figured out how big a mistake they made, but their DNR will never publicly admit it.

Wow, The DNR told us how CWD would spread if we did nothing. It hasn't disappointed them, so we shall see if "head in the sand" was a good plan.