Robert said:
This may not be true, if it turns out that CWD is a result of Prions "jumping species" from scrapie in sheep, to CWD in elk, within a research facility?
Sharkey
Not so good news !!!!!!
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This may not be true, if it turns out that CWD is a result of Prions "jumping species" from scrapie in sheep, to CWD in elk, within a research facility?
Sharkey
Joined Oct 2009
3,165 Posts | 1+
upstate ny
sharkey said:
Go back and read post #63 and read the pages of info. Sure sounds man made to me with the same sickness..Just using different names for different animals!
Four Seasons Whitetails said:
I see there's a link ,which wont open for me?
It's my guess that most people working on prion disease ,would consider scrapie as as the major "suspect" in the origin of prion disease in the last century. In the Pacific people had been eating each other for a millenium ,it wasn't untill europeans with a taste for "crumbed lambs brain" turned up that Kuru started to kill the indigenous folk.
I'd be putting a lot more effort into following scrapie as the likely origin, particularly to minimise idea that deer farming caused it. CWD is not spontanious, someone has transported the prions to the new areas. It's the transport into new areas which is the major concern, along with new "varients".
Yes the prion disease "varients" have different names & the real question is, do they have a common ancestor?
Sharkey
Sharkey,
You need to read work done by Dr. Stanley Prusiner. He claims for every 1 million animals, 1 case will occur spontaneously. It makes sense, a prion is a mutated protein. [Dr. Prusiner won the nobel prize for prion research in 1997] In March of 2012, one case of BSE [madcow] was found by USDA in California. USDA investigated and called at an atypical case [spontaneous].
Gary
You need to read work done by Dr. Stanley Prusiner. He claims for every 1 million animals, 1 case will occur spontaneously. It makes sense, a prion is a mutated protein. [Dr. Prusiner won the nobel prize for prion research in 1997] In March of 2012, one case of BSE [madcow] was found by USDA in California. USDA investigated and called at an atypical case [spontaneous].
Gary
G O Whitetails said:
So given the potential for millions of varients from "mutated proteins" this one just happened to be exactly the same as BSE, not a different varient ?
Sharkey
That particular case in California was in a dairy herd if I'm correct.
Thought it linked to some downer cows shipped down from Canada & rendered down to produce animal feed?
Where else did this feed go?
Sharkey
Thought it linked to some downer cows shipped down from Canada & rendered down to produce animal feed?
Where else did this feed go?
Sharkey
Joined Apr 2009
1,562 Posts | 0+
cental Pennsylvania
I just got this email the other day,
It appears I would crazy to even think about TB testing this fall to keep my status, that would be like throwing my money right into a trash can, it would be a waste. We are going to be at a standstill for moving deer in Blair county, God only knows for how long.
The most disappointing part is, I finally grow the biggest bucks of my deer farming career and I won't be able to sell anything out of them (to people out outside PA) because of the misfortune of a wild deer having CWD in my county, I will wait it out and see what it looks like next fall, but I think it going to be a long process. The game commission is going to want to require testing in certain area's starting in hunting season next fall, and if more positives show it will continue to set us back.. Here's the email I recieved:
The following states have imposed import restrictions on captive cervids from PA. If you intend to ship animals across state lines, please call the state of destination directly for the most current requirements. Thanks.
FL – CLOSED
NY – CLOSED EXCEPT THOSE SALES PRIOR TO OCT +
OK – CLOSED TO POSITIVE COUNTIES
MI – CLOSED
IL – CLOSED IN ADAMS, YORK, CUMBERLAND, BEDFORD, BLAIR AND TOUCHING COUNTIES
OH – CLOSED IN ADAMS, YORK, CUMBERLAND
MN – CLOSED IN BEDFORD, BLAIR, CAMBRIA, CENTRE, FULTON, HUNTINGDON, SOMERSET
MO – IF WITHIN 10 MI OF WILD OR CAPTIVE POSITIVE
IN – CLOSED
IA – IF WITHIN 30 MILES OF WILD OR CAPTIVE POSITIVE
It appears I would crazy to even think about TB testing this fall to keep my status, that would be like throwing my money right into a trash can, it would be a waste. We are going to be at a standstill for moving deer in Blair county, God only knows for how long.
The most disappointing part is, I finally grow the biggest bucks of my deer farming career and I won't be able to sell anything out of them (to people out outside PA) because of the misfortune of a wild deer having CWD in my county, I will wait it out and see what it looks like next fall, but I think it going to be a long process. The game commission is going to want to require testing in certain area's starting in hunting season next fall, and if more positives show it will continue to set us back.. Here's the email I recieved:
The following states have imposed import restrictions on captive cervids from PA. If you intend to ship animals across state lines, please call the state of destination directly for the most current requirements. Thanks.
FL – CLOSED
NY – CLOSED EXCEPT THOSE SALES PRIOR TO OCT +
OK – CLOSED TO POSITIVE COUNTIES
MI – CLOSED
IL – CLOSED IN ADAMS, YORK, CUMBERLAND, BEDFORD, BLAIR AND TOUCHING COUNTIES
OH – CLOSED IN ADAMS, YORK, CUMBERLAND
MN – CLOSED IN BEDFORD, BLAIR, CAMBRIA, CENTRE, FULTON, HUNTINGDON, SOMERSET
MO – IF WITHIN 10 MI OF WILD OR CAPTIVE POSITIVE
IN – CLOSED
IA – IF WITHIN 30 MILES OF WILD OR CAPTIVE POSITIVE
Joined Oct 2009
3,165 Posts | 1+
upstate ny
Deer dispersal and chronic wasting disease: Penn State study sheds some light
By Marcus Schneck | [email protected] on March 19, 2013 at 9:02 AM, updated March 19, 2013 at 9:11 AM
The Penn State News Service has provided a look at research into the dispersal of white-tailed deer that could prove helpful in the battle against the spread of chronic wasting disease.
Here's the press release:
Between 2001 and 2005, when Duane Diefenbach was studying the dispersal of young white-tailed deer, he had no idea the research would prove useful in trying to contain an outbreak of chronic wasting disease in the Keystone State.
Diefenbach
Penn State News Service
By 2008, when the results of the collaborative research project conducted by Penn State, the Pennsylvania Game Commission and the U.S. Geological Survey were published in an issue of Behavioral Ecology, it occurred to him that his work might have epidemiological implications.
The study, which involved 500 radio-collared deer from Centre and Armstrong counties that ended up in 10 other surrounding counties, was part of the Game Commission's evaluation of changes to the state's deer population resulting from antler restrictions aimed at allowing male deer to grow older.
The research took place before CWD showed up in New York, West Virginia and Maryland. The disease, which always is fatal to deer and elk, has persisted in the West for more than three decades. Wildlife biologists knew the malady slowly was marching east, but they had not yet been faced with the reality it had arrived in Pennsylvania.
Recently the Game Commission announced that brain-tissue tests conducted on wild Pennsylvania deer taken by hunters last fall revealed that three were infected with CWD. Those animals were killed in Bedford and Blair counties.
Last fall, tests revealed that two captive deer at a private game farm in Adams County had CWD. So, state wildlife officials now are focused on keeping the disease from spreading into other southern counties and to the Northern Tier.
In his four-year study, Diefenbach, adjunct associate professor of wildlife ecology in Penn State's College of Agricultural Sciences and leader of the Pennsylvania Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Unit, documented deer dispersal behavior that provides insight into how far and how fast CWD could spread among wild deer.
"We learned that 70 percent of yearling males will disperse, and the average dispersal is six to seven miles," he said. "Depending on the amount of forest on the landscape, those yearling males may go just a mile or as far as 30 miles."
In Pennsylvania, few young female deer disperse, Diefenbach noted, but when they do, they usually go farther than the males -- some much farther. "On average, females go about 12 miles, but their behavior is different from males," he said. "When males disperse, they go in one direction and are finished moving in 12 to 24 hours. When females disperse, they engage in strange, seemingly random movements -- wandering over the landscape and often changing directions.
"Their movement can take weeks or months, and we don't know what is driving them to disperse. It is unexpected, peculiar behavior."
Diefenbach said one female in Indiana County went well over 100 miles but ended up only 30 miles from where she was born. "And we documented other females that made similar movements."
Why all of this is important, he explained, is it gives deer managers like Game Commission biologists a solid idea how far CWD-causing prions might be carried by free-ranging deer.
Now, researchers at Penn State are using results from Diefenbach's study to model how and where the disease will spread in Pennsylvania.
David Walter, adjunct associate professor of wildlife ecology and assistant leader of the Pennsylvania Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Unit, and Tyler Evans, a master's degree candidate in Wildlife and Fisheries Science from Salem, Ohio, are collaborating with the Game Commission to conduct the research.
Walter is no stranger to chronic wasting disease -- he studied its spread in the endemic region (where CWD originated) in western Nebraska, Colorado and Wyoming.
"We know now how deer move on the landscape, so we hope Dr. Walter's research will help us make better predictions about how CWD will spread," Diefenbach said. "So far, most research has simply observed retrospectively where the disease shows up over time, but it is much more difficult to predict the future movement of disease. Our research defining how deer actually travel will make that much more possible."
Scientists know that the disease spreads through the combination of an animal moving and either interacting directly with another animal, or contracting it indirectly through the environment. Diefenbach's research showed that deer in Pennsylvania are much more likely to disperse parallel to ridges than perpendicular to them. And larger, busy roads and rivers influence the direction they disperse and also where they stop.
"We know a deer has to go from one location to another to transmit the disease. But when the disease pops up in a new location, does that represent the fact that one animal moved there, or is there some progression of infected animals -- and we just happened to detect one?"
Diefenbach's research showed that in forested landscapes, deer did not disperse as far. So in areas with fragmented forest interspersed with fields and development, deer likely will move farther. Hence CWD would be expected to spread more quickly.
"Northcentral Pennsylvania is 90 percent forest, but we have other areas that are less than 30 percent forest -- there is a huge variability in the amount of forest on the landscape," he said.
"So, in parts of the state with less forest, the Game Commission may have to consider disease-management areas that are larger, and it also has implications on sampling efforts to try to get a handle on the prevalence of the disease."
Diefenbach said one female in Indiana County went well over 100 miles but ended up only 30 miles from where she was born. "And we documented other females that made similar movements." <<<
http://blog.pennlive.com/pa-sportsma...ome_light.html
http://forms.gradsch.psu.edu/diversi...9_newberry.pdf
This is interesting!
By Marcus Schneck | [email protected] on March 19, 2013 at 9:02 AM, updated March 19, 2013 at 9:11 AM
The Penn State News Service has provided a look at research into the dispersal of white-tailed deer that could prove helpful in the battle against the spread of chronic wasting disease.
Here's the press release:
Between 2001 and 2005, when Duane Diefenbach was studying the dispersal of young white-tailed deer, he had no idea the research would prove useful in trying to contain an outbreak of chronic wasting disease in the Keystone State.
Diefenbach
Penn State News Service
By 2008, when the results of the collaborative research project conducted by Penn State, the Pennsylvania Game Commission and the U.S. Geological Survey were published in an issue of Behavioral Ecology, it occurred to him that his work might have epidemiological implications.
The study, which involved 500 radio-collared deer from Centre and Armstrong counties that ended up in 10 other surrounding counties, was part of the Game Commission's evaluation of changes to the state's deer population resulting from antler restrictions aimed at allowing male deer to grow older.
The research took place before CWD showed up in New York, West Virginia and Maryland. The disease, which always is fatal to deer and elk, has persisted in the West for more than three decades. Wildlife biologists knew the malady slowly was marching east, but they had not yet been faced with the reality it had arrived in Pennsylvania.
Recently the Game Commission announced that brain-tissue tests conducted on wild Pennsylvania deer taken by hunters last fall revealed that three were infected with CWD. Those animals were killed in Bedford and Blair counties.
Last fall, tests revealed that two captive deer at a private game farm in Adams County had CWD. So, state wildlife officials now are focused on keeping the disease from spreading into other southern counties and to the Northern Tier.
In his four-year study, Diefenbach, adjunct associate professor of wildlife ecology in Penn State's College of Agricultural Sciences and leader of the Pennsylvania Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Unit, documented deer dispersal behavior that provides insight into how far and how fast CWD could spread among wild deer.
"We learned that 70 percent of yearling males will disperse, and the average dispersal is six to seven miles," he said. "Depending on the amount of forest on the landscape, those yearling males may go just a mile or as far as 30 miles."
In Pennsylvania, few young female deer disperse, Diefenbach noted, but when they do, they usually go farther than the males -- some much farther. "On average, females go about 12 miles, but their behavior is different from males," he said. "When males disperse, they go in one direction and are finished moving in 12 to 24 hours. When females disperse, they engage in strange, seemingly random movements -- wandering over the landscape and often changing directions.
"Their movement can take weeks or months, and we don't know what is driving them to disperse. It is unexpected, peculiar behavior."
Diefenbach said one female in Indiana County went well over 100 miles but ended up only 30 miles from where she was born. "And we documented other females that made similar movements."
Why all of this is important, he explained, is it gives deer managers like Game Commission biologists a solid idea how far CWD-causing prions might be carried by free-ranging deer.
Now, researchers at Penn State are using results from Diefenbach's study to model how and where the disease will spread in Pennsylvania.
David Walter, adjunct associate professor of wildlife ecology and assistant leader of the Pennsylvania Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Unit, and Tyler Evans, a master's degree candidate in Wildlife and Fisheries Science from Salem, Ohio, are collaborating with the Game Commission to conduct the research.
Walter is no stranger to chronic wasting disease -- he studied its spread in the endemic region (where CWD originated) in western Nebraska, Colorado and Wyoming.
"We know now how deer move on the landscape, so we hope Dr. Walter's research will help us make better predictions about how CWD will spread," Diefenbach said. "So far, most research has simply observed retrospectively where the disease shows up over time, but it is much more difficult to predict the future movement of disease. Our research defining how deer actually travel will make that much more possible."
Scientists know that the disease spreads through the combination of an animal moving and either interacting directly with another animal, or contracting it indirectly through the environment. Diefenbach's research showed that deer in Pennsylvania are much more likely to disperse parallel to ridges than perpendicular to them. And larger, busy roads and rivers influence the direction they disperse and also where they stop.
"We know a deer has to go from one location to another to transmit the disease. But when the disease pops up in a new location, does that represent the fact that one animal moved there, or is there some progression of infected animals -- and we just happened to detect one?"
Diefenbach's research showed that in forested landscapes, deer did not disperse as far. So in areas with fragmented forest interspersed with fields and development, deer likely will move farther. Hence CWD would be expected to spread more quickly.
"Northcentral Pennsylvania is 90 percent forest, but we have other areas that are less than 30 percent forest -- there is a huge variability in the amount of forest on the landscape," he said.
"So, in parts of the state with less forest, the Game Commission may have to consider disease-management areas that are larger, and it also has implications on sampling efforts to try to get a handle on the prevalence of the disease."
Diefenbach said one female in Indiana County went well over 100 miles but ended up only 30 miles from where she was born. "And we documented other females that made similar movements." <<<
http://blog.pennlive.com/pa-sportsma...ome_light.html
http://forms.gradsch.psu.edu/diversi...9_newberry.pdf
This is interesting!
If you get a minute copy and paste the link I provided below regarding the recent find of CWD in the wild herd in Central Pa. The author of this article is a retired biology teacher and currently writes outdoor articles for the Centre Daily Times based out of State College,Pa.
After reading this article I felt the need to make sure all of you had a chance to read it. This is not the first article he wrote on the current CWD issue and I am sure it won't be his last. I fully expect him to attend the Pa Game commission meeting tomorrow night at the Spring Cove middle school and will have another article in next weekends paper.
http://www.centredaily.com/2013/03/17/3542376/no-time-to-waste.html#storylink=misearch
After reading this article I felt the need to make sure all of you had a chance to read it. This is not the first article he wrote on the current CWD issue and I am sure it won't be his last. I fully expect him to attend the Pa Game commission meeting tomorrow night at the Spring Cove middle school and will have another article in next weekends paper.
http://www.centredaily.com/2013/03/17/3542376/no-time-to-waste.html#storylink=misearch
Pa deer farmers association should file a lawsuit against him!! Until we stand up for ourselves they will keep putting lies in newspapers just like this guy did. With no repercussions why not? You should serve him the papers at he meeting tomorrow night!!!
Joined May 2009
2,369 Posts | 0+
Chillicothe, Missouri
kurthumphrey said:
I agree.................These people spread lies and half truths to get paid and it's at THE DEER FARMERS EXPENSE!
Just pisses me off!!Antlershed......we need to talk at the Pa Spring benefit Auction....we need to get things in place....With or Without the support of the State Org. ......we need to take a strong stand......our state is one of the largest in this business....and we can get the support! I have had quite a few calls in the last few days of PA farmers that are fed up with How we have been treated..........we need to stand together....we all love our deer .....and we all Know we are being abused....enough is enough already..........let's unite....And Fight! Hope to meet you at the sale!
Kurt is right, sue him. This is the same guy that writes for Outdoor News [Pa.].
You need to tape record and video the meeting of possible.
You need to confront him at the meeting. "negative impact on the deer population". He hasn't read the reports from Wisconsin, or the Wind Cave National Park in South Dakota has he.
"In every state where chronic disease exists, it has been first connected to farm-raised deer" --- This is an out and out lie. This one is easy to disprove. Look across your border to the south.
"questioned the lack of accurate record keeping" --- Another lie. Your BAH should chew him out on this one. This a slap on them.
He keeps referring to "Purple 4", being free, she didn't test positive, did she. Even if she carried the disease, the time line doesn't follow. The wild deer haven't had time to contract and develop the positive infective agent !!!
At the meeting, ask them that if the wildlife agencies are so concerned about controlling CWD, why did they get themselves exempted from the new Federal CWD Rule?
If you guys need help with data for your meeting, don't be afraid to ask. There is a lot of good data available to refute their false statements.
Gary Olson
507-269-9791
You need to tape record and video the meeting of possible.
You need to confront him at the meeting. "negative impact on the deer population". He hasn't read the reports from Wisconsin, or the Wind Cave National Park in South Dakota has he.
"In every state where chronic disease exists, it has been first connected to farm-raised deer" --- This is an out and out lie. This one is easy to disprove. Look across your border to the south.
"questioned the lack of accurate record keeping" --- Another lie. Your BAH should chew him out on this one. This a slap on them.
He keeps referring to "Purple 4", being free, she didn't test positive, did she. Even if she carried the disease, the time line doesn't follow. The wild deer haven't had time to contract and develop the positive infective agent !!!
At the meeting, ask them that if the wildlife agencies are so concerned about controlling CWD, why did they get themselves exempted from the new Federal CWD Rule?
If you guys need help with data for your meeting, don't be afraid to ask. There is a lot of good data available to refute their false statements.
Gary Olson
507-269-9791
Joined Oct 2009
3,165 Posts | 1+
upstate ny
JDeck said:
(Which deer farms in Maryland, West Virginia, New Mexico and Texas have had animals test positive for CWD?)
This is the question you need to ask him before you hand him the papers. You also need to stand up in that room and make sure everyone in that room hears the question and then hears that he will be served!!
Joined Oct 2009
3,165 Posts | 1+
upstate ny
The Ohio Department of Natural Resources (ODNR) and the Ohio Department of Agriculture (ODA) announced today that testing of Ohio's deer herd found no evidence of chronic wasting disease (CWD). CWD is a degenerative brain disease that affects elk, mule deer and white-tailed deer.
According to the ODNR Division of Wildlife, state and federal agriculture and wildlife officials collected 519 samples in 2012. For the 11th consecutive year, all samples were negative for CWD. Since CWD was first discovered in the late 1960s in the western United States, there has been no evidence that the disease can be transmitted to humans.
Since 2002, the ODNR Division of Wildlife, in conjunction with the ODA Division of Animal Health and the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service, Wildlife and Veterinary Services, has conducted surveillance throughout the state for CWD. While CWD has never been found in Ohio's deer herd, it had been diagnosed in wild and captive deer, moose, or elk in 22 states and two Canadian provinces. Since CWD was discovered in the western United States in the late 1960s, there has been no evidence that the disease can be transmitted to humans.
The ODNR Division of Wildlife continues to carefully monitor the health of Ohio's wild deer herd throughout the year. Visit ohioagriculture.gov or wildohio.com for the latest information on CWD or the Chronic Wasting Disease Alliance at cwd-info.org. All CWD testing is performed at the ODA Animal Disease Diagnostic Laboratory
How does this one grab ya? 500 animals tested? Really!!!! Thats because it does not fit the mold. They will test a few untill its found on a farm and then it will show cases in the wild. Same mold as pa just had and most every other positive states!
According to the ODNR Division of Wildlife, state and federal agriculture and wildlife officials collected 519 samples in 2012. For the 11th consecutive year, all samples were negative for CWD. Since CWD was first discovered in the late 1960s in the western United States, there has been no evidence that the disease can be transmitted to humans.
Since 2002, the ODNR Division of Wildlife, in conjunction with the ODA Division of Animal Health and the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service, Wildlife and Veterinary Services, has conducted surveillance throughout the state for CWD. While CWD has never been found in Ohio's deer herd, it had been diagnosed in wild and captive deer, moose, or elk in 22 states and two Canadian provinces. Since CWD was discovered in the western United States in the late 1960s, there has been no evidence that the disease can be transmitted to humans.
The ODNR Division of Wildlife continues to carefully monitor the health of Ohio's wild deer herd throughout the year. Visit ohioagriculture.gov or wildohio.com for the latest information on CWD or the Chronic Wasting Disease Alliance at cwd-info.org. All CWD testing is performed at the ODA Animal Disease Diagnostic Laboratory
How does this one grab ya? 500 animals tested? Really!!!! Thats because it does not fit the mold. They will test a few untill its found on a farm and then it will show cases in the wild. Same mold as pa just had and most every other positive states!
Joined Apr 2009
1,136 Posts | 0+
Bedford, PA
In case you haven't heard about the release of the elk at Wind Cave... Such hypocrisy! Apparently when the DNR's move animals it's ok...
Planned elk drive from Wind Cave National Park raises question about spread of disease
3
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Some critics of the joint effort by Wind Cave National Park and Custer State Park are concerned that the dispersal of part of the Wind Cave elk heard could spread chronic wasting disease.
February 25, 2013 5:30 am • Kevin Woster Journal staff(1) Comments
A relocation plan aimed at reducing the elk herd in Wind Cave National Park and building elk numbers nearby has some critics worried about the spread of chronic wasting disease.
Wildlife officials at Wind Cave and adjoining Custer State Park are cooperating on a plan to use helicopters in early March to push hundreds of elk out of Wind Cave, where they have outgrown available habitat. The plan is to reduce the number of elk in Wind Cave and bolster the elk population in the adjoining national forest and Custer State Park, where the elk herd has dropped.
It is considered a win-win plan by those involved, but it worries critics who include former state Game, Fish & Parks Department wildlife specialist John Wrede of Rapid City. And chronic wasting disease is at the heart of that worry.
Wind Cave has been in a troubled area for the fatal brain disorder affecting elk and deer since a CWD-infected captive elk herd on private land adjoining the park had to be destroyed in the 1990s.
CWD apparently spread from that captive herd into wild elk in the park, causing a problem there that, based on limited data, appears to produce higher rates of infection in elk than elsewhere in the Black Hills.
"When considering just elk, the prevalence rate in and immediately around Wind Cave is far greater than anyplace else in South Dakota," Wrede said. "In fact, you could put Wind Cave directly in the center of what could easily be referred to as an endemic area, where managers and epidemiologists should be trying to figure out how to keep the area from growing larger."
Forcing hundreds of elk out of the park seems to work against such containment, Wrede said.
Wind Cave wildlife officials argue that a drive is unlikely to cause a significant increase in CWD elsewhere in the Black Hills. They also point out that the elk herd in Wind Cave is thriving in spite of CWD, to the point where the reduction plan was needed.
And the higher rates of CWD in the park's elk herd should be kept in perspective, said park biological science technician Duane Weber and natural resource manager Greg Schroeder.
They admit that the numbers of infected elk appear startling, based on limited survey results. Out of 140 elk tested in the park since 1998, 45 have tested CWD positive.
But there's a catch. Those were not random tests. They were tests on elk that were either dead or sick, unlike the more random testing done elsewhere in the Black Hills by GF&P, primarily from elk shot by hunters.
Those test results, based on 15 years of sampling, indicate a CWD infection rate throughout the Hills in deer and elk of slightly less than 1 percent. But comparing the two types of tests isn't fair, Weber said.
"The animals we test are either sick and we suspect chronic wasting and we shoot them, or they've already died and we test them," Weber said. "So it's way higher. Comparing our tests to the state's results is apples and elephants."
It's difficult to know what a more random testing system would show, since Wind Cave doesn't allow hunting within park boundaries.
"In a nutshell, we don't have a very good handle on what our prevalence is, whether it's higher or lower overall," Weber said.
The closest study Wind Cave has to the more random state surveys was a 3-year mortality study based on elk fitted with tracking collars. It indicated that 3 percent of the collared elk that died were CWD infected. For perspective, that was the same rate as those determined to have been killed by mountain lions in the park.
Hunter mortality on those collared elk was 6 to 7 percent, on animals that migrated outside the park during the hunting season, Weber said.
Weber and Schroeder said it should also be noted that Wind Cave elk have been moving in and out of the park for years. Portions of the herd have moved over low spots in fences to reach federal or private forest for calving season, Weber said.
Recent upgrades give Wind Cave officials more control over when and where elk leave and return to the park.
Wrede is pretty sure the Wind Cave rates are higher, regardless of variations in testing protocol. The CWD problem in the Black Hills pretty clearly began with the captive elk herd near Wind Cave and spread into the wild elk in the park and then beyond, he said.
"There may be a better than fair probability that, at least in the case of elk, animals historically testing positive for CWD had origins in Wind Cave National Park," Wrede said.
The issue isn't lost on John Kanta, GF&P regional wildlife manager in Rapid City. He noted that elk have migrated in and out of Wind Cave for years but also said the helicopter drive will get into parts of the population that tended not to leave the park. And now they will.
"We're certainly going to be pushing some animals into areas where they haven't been before, from a place where there has been a higher prevalence of the disease," Kanta said."That's certainly a concern that we've discussed among the staff."
Even so, Kanta doubts the CWD impacts outside the park will be dramatic. And he said the upside of redistributing elk will benefit Wind Cave wildlife and habitat management and hunters and wildlife watchers outside the park.
Building the herd in Custer State Park, where limited elk hunting is typically allowed, and on U.S. Forest Service land nearby will benefit elk hunters and elk watchers, Kanta said.
Weber said the positive side of the plan is big.
"We don't know exactly what's going to happen when these elk go out," he said. "But we think the benefit of this project far outweigh any detriments we might see."
Planned elk drive from Wind Cave National Park raises question about spread of disease
3
Print Email
Buy Now
Journal file
Some critics of the joint effort by Wind Cave National Park and Custer State Park are concerned that the dispersal of part of the Wind Cave elk heard could spread chronic wasting disease.
February 25, 2013 5:30 am • Kevin Woster Journal staff(1) Comments
A relocation plan aimed at reducing the elk herd in Wind Cave National Park and building elk numbers nearby has some critics worried about the spread of chronic wasting disease.
Wildlife officials at Wind Cave and adjoining Custer State Park are cooperating on a plan to use helicopters in early March to push hundreds of elk out of Wind Cave, where they have outgrown available habitat. The plan is to reduce the number of elk in Wind Cave and bolster the elk population in the adjoining national forest and Custer State Park, where the elk herd has dropped.
It is considered a win-win plan by those involved, but it worries critics who include former state Game, Fish & Parks Department wildlife specialist John Wrede of Rapid City. And chronic wasting disease is at the heart of that worry.
Wind Cave has been in a troubled area for the fatal brain disorder affecting elk and deer since a CWD-infected captive elk herd on private land adjoining the park had to be destroyed in the 1990s.
CWD apparently spread from that captive herd into wild elk in the park, causing a problem there that, based on limited data, appears to produce higher rates of infection in elk than elsewhere in the Black Hills.
"When considering just elk, the prevalence rate in and immediately around Wind Cave is far greater than anyplace else in South Dakota," Wrede said. "In fact, you could put Wind Cave directly in the center of what could easily be referred to as an endemic area, where managers and epidemiologists should be trying to figure out how to keep the area from growing larger."
Forcing hundreds of elk out of the park seems to work against such containment, Wrede said.
Wind Cave wildlife officials argue that a drive is unlikely to cause a significant increase in CWD elsewhere in the Black Hills. They also point out that the elk herd in Wind Cave is thriving in spite of CWD, to the point where the reduction plan was needed.
And the higher rates of CWD in the park's elk herd should be kept in perspective, said park biological science technician Duane Weber and natural resource manager Greg Schroeder.
They admit that the numbers of infected elk appear startling, based on limited survey results. Out of 140 elk tested in the park since 1998, 45 have tested CWD positive.
But there's a catch. Those were not random tests. They were tests on elk that were either dead or sick, unlike the more random testing done elsewhere in the Black Hills by GF&P, primarily from elk shot by hunters.
Those test results, based on 15 years of sampling, indicate a CWD infection rate throughout the Hills in deer and elk of slightly less than 1 percent. But comparing the two types of tests isn't fair, Weber said.
"The animals we test are either sick and we suspect chronic wasting and we shoot them, or they've already died and we test them," Weber said. "So it's way higher. Comparing our tests to the state's results is apples and elephants."
It's difficult to know what a more random testing system would show, since Wind Cave doesn't allow hunting within park boundaries.
"In a nutshell, we don't have a very good handle on what our prevalence is, whether it's higher or lower overall," Weber said.
The closest study Wind Cave has to the more random state surveys was a 3-year mortality study based on elk fitted with tracking collars. It indicated that 3 percent of the collared elk that died were CWD infected. For perspective, that was the same rate as those determined to have been killed by mountain lions in the park.
Hunter mortality on those collared elk was 6 to 7 percent, on animals that migrated outside the park during the hunting season, Weber said.
Weber and Schroeder said it should also be noted that Wind Cave elk have been moving in and out of the park for years. Portions of the herd have moved over low spots in fences to reach federal or private forest for calving season, Weber said.
Recent upgrades give Wind Cave officials more control over when and where elk leave and return to the park.
Wrede is pretty sure the Wind Cave rates are higher, regardless of variations in testing protocol. The CWD problem in the Black Hills pretty clearly began with the captive elk herd near Wind Cave and spread into the wild elk in the park and then beyond, he said.
"There may be a better than fair probability that, at least in the case of elk, animals historically testing positive for CWD had origins in Wind Cave National Park," Wrede said.
The issue isn't lost on John Kanta, GF&P regional wildlife manager in Rapid City. He noted that elk have migrated in and out of Wind Cave for years but also said the helicopter drive will get into parts of the population that tended not to leave the park. And now they will.
"We're certainly going to be pushing some animals into areas where they haven't been before, from a place where there has been a higher prevalence of the disease," Kanta said."That's certainly a concern that we've discussed among the staff."
Even so, Kanta doubts the CWD impacts outside the park will be dramatic. And he said the upside of redistributing elk will benefit Wind Cave wildlife and habitat management and hunters and wildlife watchers outside the park.
Building the herd in Custer State Park, where limited elk hunting is typically allowed, and on U.S. Forest Service land nearby will benefit elk hunters and elk watchers, Kanta said.
Weber said the positive side of the plan is big.
"We don't know exactly what's going to happen when these elk go out," he said. "But we think the benefit of this project far outweigh any detriments we might see."
Joined Oct 2009
3,165 Posts | 1+
upstate ny
(We don't know exactly what's going to happen when these elk go out," he said. "But we think the benefit of this project far outweigh any detriments we might see)
This statement and the moving of these elk is just what our lawyers will use as ammo when this finally hits the courts. If everyone listened at NADEFA and heard the speach from the owners of the Iowa farm, There will be a lawsuit, They need to use this. This will open many eyes as to what has been going on and we need to make sure that it hits every newspaper. Even Joe public can not read that and not see how this is wrong on in so many ways!
This statement and the moving of these elk is just what our lawyers will use as ammo when this finally hits the courts. If everyone listened at NADEFA and heard the speach from the owners of the Iowa farm, There will be a lawsuit, They need to use this. This will open many eyes as to what has been going on and we need to make sure that it hits every newspaper. Even Joe public can not read that and not see how this is wrong on in so many ways!
Joined Apr 2009
1,136 Posts | 0+
Bedford, PA
Here's more... they actually removed fence to facilitate this movement from a CWD endemic area into Custer State Park!
Nearly 400 elk were moved out of the national park and into the state park by helicopter crews chartered by the South Dakota Game, Fish and Parks Department (GFP) and paid for with funding from the Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation. They spent two days rounding up and pushing elk north across the parks’ shared boundary. Sections of fence that normally restrict animal movement between the parks had been lowered or had drop-down gates installed to facilitate this transfer.
Nearly 400 elk were moved out of the national park and into the state park by helicopter crews chartered by the South Dakota Game, Fish and Parks Department (GFP) and paid for with funding from the Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation. They spent two days rounding up and pushing elk north across the parks’ shared boundary. Sections of fence that normally restrict animal movement between the parks had been lowered or had drop-down gates installed to facilitate this transfer.
Joined Sep 2010
572 Posts | 0+
Indiana
Wait ....now if this disease is so troubling to our herds...and is eventually going to wipe them out......how is it an area known for the disease is now un able to support the amount of animals? I guess that means they are growing in good numbers....so what's up with that? Just goes to show it's all a bunch of political Crap......the money we waste....no wonder we are so far in debt!
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