CHEYENNE - The Wyoming Game and Fish Department is asking all moose hunters in areas 1, 34, 38, 42 and 43 - the Snowy Range and Bighorn Mountains - to have their animal tested for chronic wasting disease.

The request stems from a hunter-harvested moose in northern Colorado testing positive for CWD this week. This was the first time a wild moose has tested positive for the disease, although moose have been infected with CWD in laboratory experiments. With this development, the Game and Fish wants to check all moose from areas where deer or elk have tested positive for CWD in Wyoming in the past.

Hunters in these areas can bring their moose to one of the Game and Fish Departments CWD check stations, Game and Fish offices in Cody, Sheridan or Laramie or the Wyoming State Veterinary Laboratory in Laramie.

Although moose are members of the deer family, veterinarians believe moose are much less susceptible to CWD because they are less likely to congregate in groups or herds than deer and elk.

CWD is a fatal neurological disease that has been diagnosed in wild deer and elk in 10 states and two Canadian provinces. Animals show no apparent signs of illness throughout much of disease course. In terminal stages of CWD, animals typically are emaciated and display abnormal behavior.

There is no confirmed link between CWD and any human illness.

Moose hunters with questions about the testing should contact Game and Fish veterinarian Cynthia Tate at (307) 742-6681.
(contact: Cynthia Tate (307) 742-6681)