Wilkinson Part 7 & Dr. Bruce L Smith

[katqanna]

Chronic-wasting study bodes ill for elk herds, Part 7 in a series on wildlife diseases in the Greater Yellowstone, by Todd Wilkinson

"Critics say these studies are damning illustrations of how Wyoming’s disease management positions are radically out of step with widely held scientific facts. They say it underscores concerns that the CWD danger posed to huge numbers of dispersing elk in Greater Yellowstone is far more problematic than state officials, justifying artificial feeding, are willing to admit...While Rocky Mountain National Park has densities reaching 115 elk per square kilometer, the densities of elk on the refuge and Wyoming feedgrounds are orders of magnitude greater, literally thousands of elk per square kilometer, Dorsey says. 'This very sobering research in Rocky Mountain National Park should serve as a warning to federal and state wildlife agencies in western Wyoming to do what they can now to avoid such an awful scenario,' he said. CWD is now only miles away from the elk refuge and feedgrounds, he added. "

On the CWD news front, from vets, I have heard that CWD was found 5 miles from the feed grounds. Last year it was 13 miles away, the year before reported to be in the 30's. Those bloody feed grounds are a disaster waiting to happen. Dr. Tom Roffe stated at a presentation I set up last year, that at the point that you see the evidence of infected bodies there, it is already too late to prevent it. Scavengers pick up bodies before humans see evidence. And unlike brucellosis, you cant eat CWD meat.

Also, Dr. Bruce L. Smith, author of Where Elk Roam and retired US Fish and Wildlife Services, just set up a wildlife website and blog. You can subscribe to his blog by clicking on the blog tab, then in the bottom right hand corner there is a subscription box.

Bruce's email - "I will be posting updates on topics about elk, wildlife diseases (such as brucellosis and chronic wasting disease), and notable new articles and books that I and others have published, including my upcoming book on the American mountain goat. I will add new postings only every week or two. If you are interested in receiving email updates about new posts, you can subscribe to Bruce’s Blog when you visit my website."