Chronic-wasting study bodes ill for elk herds

Chronic wasting disease is notorious for leaving no survivors. Depending on which member of the deer family it infects and kills by turning victims’ brains into sponge-like mush, CWD has been called “mad deer disease” or “mad elk disease.” Mercilessly lethal, CWD is not only incurable, but the associated rogue proteins, called prions, that cause mortality leach into soils and persist as a disease menace long after dead animals have decomposed on the ground. Specialists in epizootic diseases say that if an outbreak of CWD occurred in areas where mass numbers of wildlife congregate, the resulting “ecological disaster” would be difficult to contain and clean up. In 2007, then-Wyoming Game and Fish Department Veterinarian Terry Kreeger made a pronouncement about CWD to the Casper-Star Tribune that caused professional colleagues who make their living thinking about wildlife health issues to gasp. “Right now,” Kreeger said, “there’s no evidence that a severe reduction of deer and elk will occur [if CWD reaches populations of those animals in Wyoming]. In fact there’s some evidence to show that it will not have any effect on populations, but we expect it does to some degree.” Kreeger, in essence, was trying to defend artificial feeding at the National Elk Refuge and 22 feedgrounds operated by the state of Wyoming. Last month, the findings of a new study — peer-reviewed by scientists and published in The Journal of Wildlife Management — cast serious doubts about Kreeger’s assertions. The study by lead author Ryan J. Monello, a researcher with the National Park Service, and five colleagues in ecology and veterinary medicine examines survival and population dynamics of free-ranging elk in Rocky Mountain National Park of northern Colorado. [Read pdf of study at JHNewsAndGuide.com]. Two hair-raising conclusions: Destroying animals didn’t stop disease progression. And once CWD arrives, mortality is likely to outpace reproduction, resulting in population declines...more