(File photo/ paNOW Staff)

By Nigel Maxwell

Wildlife disease

Feds asked to step up support to address deer killing disease

Aug 20, 2019 | 2:38 PM

The federal government has been called upon to take a serious look at a wildlife disease, responsible for killing 300 deer last year in Saskatchewan.

In a letter sent to the Prime Minister’s office as well as the Ministries of the Environment and Health, a coalition including Canada’s 12 Wildlife Federations, has asked for the government to develop a federal program to address Chronic Wasting Disease (CWD). Darryl Crabbe, Executive Director for the Saskatchewan Wildlife Federation, told paNOW there needs to be more awareness around the need to have the animal heads tested.

“Really it’s unfortunate that we don’t have a higher number of hunters submitting their heads for testing. I think there are some folks who just don’t want to know, and some folks who don’t care,” he said.

Chronic wasting disease, is a fatal, infectious central nervous system disease that can affect wild cervids (e.g. deer, elk, caribou and moose) and was first detected in captive game farm elk in Saskatchewan in 1996 and the wild in 2000. According to provincial records, hunters harvested close to 35,000 white-tailed and mule deer in Saskatchewan last year, but only about 2,000 heads were submitted for testing. Last year also represented a record year for CWD in Saskatchewan with 349 positive cases.

A map of confirmed CWD cases in Sask. 2000 to 2018. (Canadian Wildlife Health Cooperative)

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There are 76 wildlife management zones in the province and the provincial government has recommended mandatory testing in six of those zones, which are located mainly across the eastern side of the province near the Manitoba border.

“It’s not about just determining which [wildlife zones] have it, it’s about the prevalence as well and I think we have to do everything we can to try and advance the science to make good decisions on how we can from here,” Crabbe said.

Roy Anderson manages the Saskatchewan Outfitters Association and told paNOW the association has been aware of CWD for a number of years, but the attention and focus to it has increased significantly in the last couple of years.

“One third of the industry is dependant on big game outfitting so of course it’s a concern about the business and a concern about the health of the resource,” he said.

In addition to developing a best practices list for hunters, Anderson said the association is also looking to formalize a testing program in the forest, adding in Saskatchewan outfitting for deer only occurs in the north.

“We are looking to implement a testing program this year that will start to identify, provide a base line of what’s really happening in that area with respect to the prevalence of the disease,” he said.

The government response

The Ministry of Environment has emailed a statement to paNOW, outline their plan regarding CWD. The statement indicated the ministry is working on a number of strategies to control the spread of CWD, including reducing artificial sources of concentration in the environment, carcass movement and disposal, and harvest management.

At this time, the are no plans by the government to ban baiting in the province, but the ministry continues to research best practices regarding CWD.

The provincial chronic wasting disease surveillance program is undergoing changes for 2019, which will be announced by the government once the details are finalized.

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nigel.maxwell@jpbg.ca

On Twitter: @nigelmaxwell