Wyoming Game and Fish has confirmed Chronic Wasting Disease on an elk feedground for the second time ever.
It’s the first CWD case in the Upper Green River Herd, between Jackson and Pinedale. Two adult female elk were found dead in recent months within Elk Hunt Area 87 on the Dell Creek feedground.
The state’s first CWD case on a feedground was confirmed by the wildlife agency last month, south of Pinedale.
CWD is a prion disease that spreads through body fluids such as saliva or urine. The always fatal brain disease is seen as a major threat to big game in North America, including western Wyoming’s elk populations. It’s transmitted especially quickly in close quarters, like feedgrounds, meant to prop up herds during harsh winters.
Wyoming is the only state in the U.S. that feeds elk on such feedgrounds and there are over 20 in the state.
Last year, the Wyoming Game and Fish Commission decided to continue the practice – despite pushback that it brought elk too close together and allowed the disease to spread more easily. Plans for managing elk feedgrounds in the state with “sideboards” to prevent the spread of disease in the Jackson and Pinedale herds are in progress.
