CWD In Saskatchewan....again...

[scooter]

And what the province is doing about it......again....

I really don't know if I agree with the hunting practices here.....But who am I.....What do you all think? Read the article below and then vote!

Feature article from Saskatchewan Environment
Writer; Art Jones

Hunters Are Being Asked To Help Meet A Major Challenge

Saskatchewan Environment (Saskatchewan Environment) is facing a challenging job, to find out how wide spread Chronic Wasting Disease (CWD) is in wild deer and elk. It’s a challenge that won’t be met without the help of Saskatchewan’s farmland owners and hunters.

Over the past year two positive cases of CWD were found in wild mule deer taken in the Manito Sand Hills in Wildlife Management Zone 46, which is along the province’s west side. CWD is a disease of the brain tissue of deer and elk. Current scientific evidence says CWD is not a known public health risk and there is no known evidence it can be transferred to humans or conventional livestock.

Saskatchewan Environment is taking several steps to learn more about how widespread CWD is in the wild in Saskatchewan. They include closing the regular deer hunting seasons in Wildlife Management Zone 46 and asking hunters to use free CWD collection permits to help reduce the deer herd in a 16 kilometre area around the two positives. Scientific experts who have dealt with CWD for years, say reducing the deer herd is the most effective way to try to prevent the spread of the disease to other areas.

Hunters are also being asked to use the collection permits to take an intensive sample of deer heads in the rest of Wildlife Management Zone 46 to determine if CWD has spread beyond the Sand Hills. All hunters using control permits will be required to submit any harvested deer heads for testing.

Saskatchewan Environment’s Kevin Omoth says canceling the hunting season and issuing control permits is the best way to get a scientific sample from the area.

“Using collection permits allows us to control the number of hunters in an area at a given time. That’s a condition the farmland owners in the Manito Sand Hills area requested when we consulted them. But just as importantly, by using control permits we can make it mandatory for hunters to turn in the heads, whereas it would be voluntary for someone using a purchased license.”

Test results for animals taken in Wildlife Management Zone 46 should be available within a month from the date the sample was submitted.


Saskatchewan Environment may also be making collection permits available to regular season hunters in six other high priority areas across the province. These are areas where CWD has been found in game farmed animals and there is a need to see if CWD is also present in wild herds in these areas.

Saskatchewan Environment’s Omoth says the collection permits will be used a bit differently in the high priority areas.

“We are looking for 500 or so samples from each high priority area. We need that many samples for our survey to be scientifically valid which will in turn help us to determine if CWD is or is not in the wild population in those areas. Without that size of sample, our calculations would not have a solid scientific base. We hope we get enough samples from hunters who are using regular licenses. However, if it appears we will not reach our goal then collection permits may be issued.”

Test results from the high priority areas will be available within four to six weeks.

Along with the voluntary participation of licenced hunters and land owners, the use of collection permits will be an important tool for ensuring a valid sample size is collected this fall. Hunters are being advised that while allowing wild game meat to spoil or go to waste is illegal, animals which are confirmed to be sick or infected, do not have to be consumed.

Hunters who submit samples will be given an identification number which will allow them to check on test results through the Internet at wildlife.usask.ca/cwd2001 or by phoning 1-800-567-4224.

For more information contact:

Kevin Omoth
Saskatchewan Environment
(306) 787-8102

Or

Art Jones
Saskatchewan Environment Communications Consultant
(306) 787-5796
(306) 537-7040 (cell)
ajones@serm.gov.sk.ca

[Grunter]

Personally I find the concept of culling specific herds for this purpose a little ridiculous. Nature always finds a way to survive, and guess what happens when there's a greater concerntration of animals in one area from another... they move about freely in search of food sources and shelter.

Anyone that has followed CWD research in the past 1-2 years should recollect that it has already been proven that the contaminating agents of CWD found in spoor and on the ground of infected areas can sustain itself for more than two years, regardless of environmental conditions. So what does that tell you when they cull a herd and the next herd moves in? They will get CWD as well.

Short of burning a region to the ground (and that may not even work) I can't see how they can expect to eliminate the spread of CWD with the plans they've implemented.

They should first start with the permanent closure of all game animal farms, then work on a plan to mobilize infected animals (when they're discovered) to these farms and use the farms as a launchpad to provide the appropriate studies, testing and validation that should be done to understand how it really works and propogates.

This is no different then how the WHO and CDC have handled the discovery and continued (albeit rare) infection of the human-variant form called CJD (Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease) which is not linked to consumption of CWD-contaminated animals.

[alwayshunting]

The plan doesn't sound too bad but if you shoot a nice buck what happens if you want a head mount. I think all hunters should be willing to partipate in donating heads through the regular season of deer hunting instead of them enforcing a cull and special tag system. I know that they have recently found CWD in Oneida country accross the boarder from Hamilton Ontario, It started in the game farms and has spread to the wild population of deer in the New York state. Hell they fed one of the deer to a bunch of people at a firefighters dinner. They have also found that CWD has spread to big horn sheep in wyoming I think thats where it was. This information came off the espn site. As hunters I think we should work with game offiaials to ensure a healthy population of animals in the future.

[ACC3-28]

Yes, I personally understand the need for this kind of scientific research in the wildlife profession. We need to know to what extent our populations are infested with CWD if at all, so that we are able to manage them with a better understanding.

[Andy_T]

I tend to agree with some of the other comments reference nature taking charge. The problem could be something as simple as:

1. Stopping the pen raising of wild game animals like deer and elk. It appears the very start of this epidemic originated from deer farms in the US and even here in Canada. Obviously deer and elk cannot be raised in such close quarters. I do not believe a person has the right to put the entire wild deer herd at risk because of a personal desire for profit. An out right ban on this practice has got to be implemented.

2. Coyotes and wolves will, without doubt clean up the sick of any herd, then the carrion eaters will take care of the tidy up chores. In Manitoba we have an abundance of coyotes and wolves primarily due to low fur prices and Bill C-68. They are taking healthy full grown cattle. You can’t go to a farmer to get permission without them asking you to kill as many coyotes or wolves as possible. My guess is a sick deer wouldn't stand a chance in hell of living over night. I can honestly tell you I would never leave a shot animal in the bush here hoping to find it in the morning. It just won’t be there. Yet you cannot watch a deer hunting movie from Wisconsin without the hunters leaving their poorly hit animals overnight. Try that around Red Deer!!! Maybe American coyotes and wolves don’t like deer??

3. I'm sure there are and will be naturally occurring cases of this disease like scabies and BSE. When one considers the actual number of deer living west of Kenora the numbers are staggering. With mild winters the herd is sure to grow and thus a few more cases will be discovered. Two cases of CWD is hardly an epidemic but it does show cause for concern.

4. Manitoba instantly banned the use of urine based lures and the importation of raw bone when the first cases of CWD were noted. To date we are CWD free. Maybe the other provinces game ministries should get together and come out with workable solutions of who's doing what right vs who's doing things wrong. I have had great results using chemical lures that contain absolutely no animal bi-products why can't everyone??

This is not a time to panic over something we really have no idea about. How is it spread? Does it occur naturally? Will the predators take care of the mess? Are deer/elk farms the root cause and should they be banned? We have huge numbers of great game biologists hired at taxpayers expense to find out these answers. Let’s not jump to conclusions and make the wrong judgements to quickly.

A J