Chronic Wasting Disease Changing Big Game Hunting

Chronic Wasting Disease Changing Big Game Hunting

As time moves forward, things change. For hunters, sportsmen, and landowners, times are changing. Most people have seen all the tremendous positive advances through the last 30 years of wildlife study.  There has been better habitat, better wildlife quality, better populations. During the past few decades, the idea of wildlife management and conservation has truly taken off. Now, however, that model of quality wildlife management is under attack. Chronic Wasting Disease (CWD) is rewriting big game hunting as we know it, causing new regulations, more problems, and unhealthy wildlife.  

There are a lot of common questions that sportsmen, hunters, landowners, and others have about CWD. Even though the disease has been around for 50 years, it has only been during the past decade that the public has really been made aware of CWD.

What is Chronic Wasting Disease?

CWD is a Transmissible Spongiform Encephalopathy (TSE) that affects the Cervidae family (CWDA 2017).  CWD is a type of prion disease that attacks the brain, similar to mad cow disease. In North America, CWD has only been found in cervids, mule deer, white-tailed deer, elk, and moose. CWD is a fatal disease that destroys the brain by mutating the prions that slowly reduce critical brain functions (CWDA 2017).  This picture shows a white-tailed deer infected with CWD. CWD has many stages in whitetail deer; this deer is in one of the final stages of the disease (NDA 2017).  When a cervid is infected with CWD and the animal progresses through the disease, it will experience, severe weight loss and extreme behavior changes (CWDA 2017).

(Dr. Terry Kreeger of Wyoming Game and Fish Department)

Where has CWD been found?

CWD was first documented in captive mule deer in 1967. Today, CWD has been found in 24 states and 3 Canadian provinces and involves both wild and captive cervids. In the United States, 21 states have found CWD in free ranging cervids. There are 160 counties that have been deemed infected by CWD by their state agencies. (CWDA 2017)

                                                                                    (CWDA 2017)

How does CWD spread?

This is one of the largest problems of CWD. Since CWD is a prion disease, prions are proteins, and proteins are found throughout the entire the body. CWD is passed through direct contact with the prions. When a cervid dies or poops, it is estimated that the prions will persist in the soil for up to 5 years. (CWDA 2017) Recently, biologists and scientists have discovered that if a cervid’s prions are in the soil, a plant can carry the prions. (NDA 2017) For example, if clover starts growing where a CWD positive deer died, and another deer comes along and eats that clover, that deer is now infected with CWD. Another example: a hunter from Pennsylvania goes on an elk hunt in Colorado; he travels to one of the infected counties for his hunt. If that hunter walks through an area where CWD infected prions are in the soil, those prions are on his shoes. Now, anywhere he travels with those shoes, he is spreading prions. Scientists and biologists are still working on trying to find a way to kill the prions once in the soil. They have learned that the prions will continue to persist even through fire. Quality Deer Management Association (QDMA) and white-tailed deer biologist Kip Adams believes that we are still 10 years or more away from finding a way to stop the prions from surviving in the soil.

What are the biggest threats?

CWD poses a lot of significant threats, risks, and concerns. The biggest challenge to CWD is that the only way to tell if that cervid is infected with CWD is through brain stem research or, if the animal is in its final stage, you can tell through physical characteristics. Another major risk is that scientists have not concluded if you can consume the animal if it is infected with CWD. Since this disease is similar to forms of other diseases that can be transferred to humans, that is a major health risk. Another major concern is for farmers. What if CWD can be transmitted to livestock? What if CWD can be transmitted to the corn crop, infecting people and deer that eat the corn infected by CWD? What if all these risks are true? The potential economic impact on the agricultural industry cannot be ignored. Chronic Wasting Disease doesn’t only affect hunters and sportsman, it affects everyone.

There’s a lot of time, money, and research going into CWD. There have been many national organizations coming together to help fight this disease, including Mule Deer Foundation, Quality Deer Management Association, Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation, and others. This is a major event that is spreading across the country and changing the way sportsmen hunt big game. It is threatening farming; it is having an impact on everyone.

It is critical that we do our part to find a way to prevent the spread of Chronic Wasting Disease. As wildlife conservationists, our goal is to protect and manage wildlife for future generations. If CWD truly spreads nationally, it could prohibit the success of quality wildlife populations. Step up and help manage, listen to your states’ and agencies’ laws on consuming and transporting corvids in those infected areas, so that we can do our part to help conserve wildlife for future generations.  

Brandon Witmer

Citations:

Chronic Wasting Disease Alliance (CWDA). 2017. Chronic Wasting Disease Info.

<www.cwd-info.org>. Accessed 25 Feb 2017.

National Deer Alliance (NDA). 2017. National Deer Alliance on CWD.

<www.nationaldeeralliance.com>. Accessed 25 Feb 2017.