August 2022 - 11

NEWS
Game and Fish gears up
for more CWD monitoring
CHEYENNE - The Wyoming Game and
Fish Department is gearing up for another season
of surveillance and monitoring of chronic
wasting disease in deer and elk.
Game and Fish has tracked the distribution
and prevalence of CWD since 1997 to
better understand how it affects the health
of Wyoming's deer and elk populations. The
disease is found more in deer than elk in the
state. CWD is a fatal disease of the central
nervous system in mule deer, white-tailed
deer, elk and moose.
For the second consecutive year Game and
Fish will require mandatory CWD samples
from hunters who harvest deer in specific hunt
areas. Those hunt areas include 59, 60, 64 and
65 in southeast Wyoming, along with 157
and 171 in Fremont County. Additionally,
there are several hunt areas around the state
marked as focus areas for CWD monitoring
for deer and elk. Some of those areas are the
same as last year, but some are new.
" We're addressing herds we've not
addressed in a while and trying to get a significant
sample size so we can accurately determine
what the CWD prevalence is in many of
these herds, " said Hank Edwards, Game and
Fish Wildlife Health Laboratory supervisor.
Edwards said mandatory areas are geared to
places where it is difficult to get an adequate
number of samples.
In 2021 mandatory CWD samples were
required from Deer Hunt Areas 96 and 97 in
central Wyoming within the Lander Region's
Sweetwater Herd Unit.
" Last year's mandatory areas went very
well. We had great compliance by the public
and we were able to meet our surveillance
goals, " Edwards said. " We couldn't have done
that without the public's support. "
FOR MORE INFORMATION ABOUT
CHRONIC WASTING DISEASE IN
WYOMING, INCLUDING A VIDEO
ON HOW TO SUBMIT YOUR OWN
CWD TEST SAMPLE, GO TO:
https://bit.ly/2T9QnPP
To ensure proper tissue collection for
analysis, Game and Fish prefers to have its
employees take samples at Game and Fish-operated
check stations within mandatory areas
or at regional offices. However, hunters also
can submit samples on their own.
Game and Fish also will monitor CWD in
select elk hunt areas around the state.
Hunters stop at the Alpine check station in western Wyoming. At the check station, Game and Fish staff collect tissue and blood
samples to test for diseases like CWD and brucellosis and collect biological data like the animal's age, gender and body composition.
(Photo by Chris Martin/WGFD)
Last year the lab tested 6,884 CWD samples
from big game, and 831 samples tested
positive for the disease. The number of submitted
samples and positive tests increased
for the third consecutive year. Edwards said
CWD is slowly increasing in most deer and
elk herds in the state and was found in four
new deer hunt areas and five new elk hunt
areas in 2021.
Surveillance and monitoring this year will
help Game and Fish make better management
decisions for both deer and elk in the future.
" There are a few areas where we are seeing
a dramatic increase in CWD prevalence, "
Edwards said. " We're looking forward to this
year's surveillance efforts to try and nail down
exactly what those increases in prevalence are. "
- Robert Gagliardi, WGFD
Wyoming Wildlife | 11

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August 2022

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