Deer Hunt Area 160 Now Positive For CWD

Testing by the Wyoming Game and Fish Department has found chronic wasting disease (CWD), a fatal neurological disease of deer, elk and moose, in a deer from Fremont County in deer hunt area 160. Staff at the Game and Fish’s wildlife disease laboratory in Laramie confirmed a yearling mule deer buck as CWD positive. The animal was harvested by a hunter on October 18 southeast of Lander.

Jason Hunter, Lander Region wildlife supervisor said,

“The new CWD positive cases we have documented in the Lander Region this year are likely due to our increased surveillance and the fact that all of these areas are adjacent to or surrounded by other areas where CWD had already been documented, we appreciate the help of the public in our increased surveillance effort.”

Personnel from the Lander Region will continue to collect CWD samples through hunter field checks and at CWD sampling stations. Hunters who wish to have their deer, elk or moose tested for CWD outside of the department’s CWD surveillance program can to do so by contacting the Wyoming State Veterinary Lab at (307) 766-9925. While CWD surveillance helps the Game and Fish monitor the disease, it also enables hunters to determine whether their harvested animal has CWD. Hunters should be aware that it may take a few weeks after their animal is sampled to get their test results.

For more information on chronic wasting disease transmission and regulations on transportation and disposal of carcasses please visit the Game and Fish website at: http://wgfd.wyo.gov.