This story is part of our Quick Hits series. This series will bring you breaking news and short updates from throughout the state.
Chronic wasting disease (CWD) has struck the Black Butte elk feedground, making it the third feedground to find the disease in the past three months.
The Wyoming Game and Fish Department (WGFD) announced the news in a March 11 press release. The carcass was found on Black Butte in elk Hunt Area 93, just north of Pinedale. This is the first CWD case on this feedground.
The news comes after the first ever CWD case on an elk feedground was discovered in Scab Creek in December, south of Pinedale. About a month ago, several cases also turned up on the Dell Creek feedground near Bondurant.
The disease is akin to mad cow disease. It’s always fatal and untreatable. The prions can live in the soil for years, and can spread to animals easier when they gather, like on feedgrounds. A U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) study suggests the disease could topple the roughly 20,000 elk fed in western Wyoming over the next two decades.
WGFD has feared this for years. The agency finalized a plan last year to reduce elk’s dependence on the 22 state run feedgrounds, but because of public controversy, it won’t happen quickly. Also, bigger changes that can be made are unclear. This winter, the agency started spreading out hay more and reducing the number of days they feed on some of the feedgrounds.
As for disease management right now, the agency is monitoring herds and removing sick or dead animals.
CWD first appeared in western Wyoming’s elk in 2020 in a Jackson herd. It’s spread to several other regional herds, but was never officially detected within the boundaries of a feedground.
