Hunters: G&F tests deer & elk for CWD
October 3, 2005
The Wyoming Game and Fish Department (G&F) will again be collecting chronic wasting disease samples from hunter-harvested deer and elk across Wyoming this fall. Game and Fish employees will be stationed at selected wild game processing plants the first few days of major season openers to remove lymph nodes for testing. G&F hopes to test around 4,000 deer and elk to improve their knowledge on the scope of the disease. Contact your local Game and Fish office for specific sampling sites and dates.
Participation in this effort is voluntary, but hunters who participate will be provided with test results for free. Results will be available on the Game and Fish Web site following testing.
Hunters unable to go to a Game and Fish collection site can have their deer or elk tested by the Wyoming State Veterinary Laboratory in Laramie for $25. The laboratory is just east of the I-80 Snowy Range Road Exit and can be contacted at (307) 742-6638.
When presenting a deer or elk for sampling, the hunter will need to provide their name, address, phone number, hunt area/license type, license number, harvest date, specific harvest location and sex and species of deer.
Deer and elk hunters in known chronic wasting disease areas are alerted to a new regulation beginning this fall designed to help curtail the spread of CWD. Hunters in these areas, which are primarily eastern Wyoming, will need to dispose of their deer or elk carcass in an approved landfill, leave their animal for processing at a licensed plant or leave the head and spinal column of the animal at the site of the harvest. The new regulation applies to carcass and meat transportation both within Wyoming and for hunters traveling outside the state.
For more information, the 2005 CWD brochure is available at Game and Fish offices or by calling (307) 777-4600. CWD information is also available on the Game and Fish website at http://gf.state.wy.us.
|
