Rapid City, South Dakota – Game, Fish and Parks’ major efforts on Chronic
Wasting Disease (CWD) sampling of deer and elk ended with the close of
hunting seasons, and results indicate the disease is still present in the
same isolated areas as past years.
“We again concentrated our CWD surveillance efforts in areas were the
disease had been found in the past,” Steve Griffin, GFP big game biologist,
said. “These areas included Fall River, Custer and Pennington counties in
southwestern South Dakota and in the Black Hills area. But we also sampled
any sick elk or deer that was found anywhere in South Dakota.”
GFP collected 3,245 deer and elk samples for CWD testing since July 1,
2005. These samples included 766 elk, 865 mule deer and 1,614 white-tailed
deer.
A total of four elk, four mule deer and four white-tailed deer were found
with the disease. Of these, seven were found in Fall River County, two in
Pennington County, one in Custer County and two in Wind Cave National Park.
Griffin said that over 12,000 deer and elk have been tested in South Dakota
since the CWD surveillance program began in 1997.
There have been a total of 45 cases of CWD detected, 32 in deer and 13 in
elk.
“Testing will continue on all sick deer and elk that are located in South
Dakota,” Griffin said. “If any individual sees a sickly looking elk or
deer, please report it to a local GFP conservation officer or office as
soon as possible with specific information on where it is located and how
it appeared.”
Information on CWD and results of the GFP testing program is available on
the GFP website at www.sdgfp.info .
Highlight the link to “Wildlife, Hunting, Fishing,” then click on the link
to “Hunting.” Under “Big Game Seasons” there is a link to “Chronic Wasting
Disease.”
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