November 14, 2023 |
Photo – Lymph node from a mule deer – Courtesy WY Game and Fish
The Wyoming Game and Fish Department revealed new numbers Monday showing the prevalence of Chronic Wasting Disease in Carbon County’s mule deer population.
This past hunting season, the state wildlife agency required hunters in three specific areas of Carbon County to submit the lymph nodes of taken mule deer for Chronic Wasting Disease testing. For the first time, Game and Fish biologists obtained a larger-than-average number of samples from herds in the Platte Valley, Baggs, and Shirley Mountain areas.
Saratoga Wildlife Biologist Teal Cufaude said of the 103-mule deer specimens collected in the Platte River Valley, 13 had CWD.
Cufaude said the instances of Chronic Wasting Disease in the Platte Valley were higher than expected. However, Cufaude said the numbers are in line with the levels of CWD found in nearby herds.
The agency also collected samples from around Baggs, where Cufaude said approximately 16% of the deer tested positive for Chronic Wasting Disease.
Cufaude said Game and Fish didn’t receive as many samples from Shirley Mountain as the other two tested areas. The wildlife biologist said seven of the 42 harvested mule deer had CWD.
Cufaude said the number of positive tests in the Shirley Mountain area was high, but not unexpected. Like in the Platte Valley, Cufaude said nearby herds have exhibited similar numbers of infected deer.
Cufaude said mule deer are being negatively impacted by the higher-than-expected rates of Chronic Wasting Disease found in local herds. The wildlife biologist said Wyoming Game and Fish will consider the prevalence of CWD when setting next year’s hunting season limits.
Bigfoot99 asked how the public can help slow the spread of Chronic Wasting Disease. Cufaude said don’t feed the deer.
This past hunting season was the first time that Wyoming Game and Fish required hunters to submit mule deer samples from the Platte River, Baggs, and Shirley Mountain hunting areas. Cufaude said biologists didn’t receive the required number of samples needed for an accurate CWD count, so compulsory collection will occur again next year.
