The state will lead chronic wasting disease response efforts within municipalities.
The state is preparing to cull deer outside Cranbrook to test for deadly wildlife diseases, but the potential impact on urban deer within area municipalities remains unclear. Questions remain.
The state recently announced that up to 25 animals from two areas south of Cranbrook that have tested positive for chronic wasting disease (CWD) to determine the current prevalence of the disease. They announced that they would hunt deer.
Two of the positive cases occurred in rural areas, one in a female whitetail killed on the road south of Cranbrook on Highway 3, and the other in a male mule deer caught in a tropical location. But concerns about urban deer populations have surfaced twice recently. at a forum hosted by the BC Chapter of Backcountry Hunters and Anglers and at a recent RDEK board meeting.
In both cases, local officials are in ongoing discussions about how to contain the spread of CWD, especially in the context of dense urban deer populations in municipalities.
Cranbrook Mayor Wayne Price told Townsmen in early March that the option to address CWD’s concerns about urban deer populations within the city would be a state-led effort.
“We don’t have the authority to implement any program. The state has made that clear,” Price said. “The state has made it very clear to us that it’s their deer and it’s their responsibility.”
CWD is a central nervous system condition caused by an infectious agent called prions, which accumulate and kill cells in the brain, causing neurological disease. It usually infects cervids, such as deer, elk, elk, and caribou.
The disease can spread because infected animals can release prions through saliva, urine, and feces into water, plants, and bedding.
It is 100% fatal to wild animals and there is no known cure.
However, although it is not known to affect humans or livestock, public health guidelines state that meat from animals that test positive should not be eaten.
Mr Price said the discovery of CWD in the area was “very concerning”, especially as the infection could spread from wild deer to deer in the city’s dense urban areas.
“Certainly in the Cranbrook situation, I think we have a very dense urban deer population, but the big concern is the proximity to disease vectors at this point,” Price said.
Regional district staff and elected officials were recently updated on the presence of CWD in East Kootenays during a March 8 presentation.
Tropical Area B Director Stan Doll represents one of two areas where deer have tested positive.
“I call it terrifying,” Dore said. “It’s been happening in Alberta for a few years, it’s been happening in Montana for a few years, and it’s here now, and I don’t know how to stop it. As a hunter myself, , we’re very concerned about this because when you go out into the wild and harvest an animal, you don’t know if it’s infected or not, and it’s a big turnoff for recreational hunting in this region. ”
The state has since required testing for chronic wasting disease and restricted the transport and disposal of road-killed deer in areas where the first cases were detected.
This first response area includes land along Highway 3 from south of Cranbrook toward the U.S. border, between the Moye Mountains to the west and the McDonald Mountains to the east.
Additionally, mandatory for white-tailed and mule deer taken in MU 4-1, 4-2, 4-3, 4-4, 4-5, 4-6, 4-7, 4-8, 4-23. A thorough inspection is being conducted. , 4-24 and 4-25 within a week after harvest.
Wildlife biologists also note that additional regulations and enforcement actions are likely to be taken as more tests are conducted.