East River Deer Hunters Check for CWD

PIERRE, S.D.—Surveillance for chronic wasting disease will expand to two East River counties this year, even though the disease has never been found in that part of the state.

Hunters with deer tags for Grant and Deuel counties will be part of the S.D. Game, Fish and Parks Department’s CWD voluntary surveillance effort. Those counties were included because a CWD infected white-tailed deer was discovered at a captive facility in Minnesota.

“With the East River deer season set to open on Saturday, Nov. 18, it’s important for hunters in those two counties to realize that this year they’ll be part of the testing effort,” said Steve Griffin, GFP big game biologist. “We’re asking hunters in Grant and Deuel counties to assist us with our CWD surveillance program. Although CWD has never been found in the area, we’re testing there to make sure CWD is not in the area. The only way we can be successful with our surveillance is with hunter assistance.”

For the past few years, surveillance for CWD took place in those counties where elk and deer had been discovered with the disease: Fall River, Custer and Pennington counties and the Black Hills.

Hunters who receive a license in one of the CWD surveillance units will be notified by mail with details about participation, drop-off locations and testing procedures. Hunters who submit a deer or elk head for testing will be informed about the test results.

CWD is a fatal brain disease found in both captive and free-ranging elk and deer. In its late stages, animals with CWD become emaciated, behave abnormally, lose control of muscles and other bodily functions and die.

More than 12,300 deer and elk have been tested for CWD in South Dakota since 1997. Of those, 32 deer and 15 elk tested positive for the disease. All of the animals that have tested positive have come from the southwest corn of the state.

For more information about the CWD surveillance program, contact the GFP Regional Office in Rapid City at (605) 394-2391 or visit the department’s Web site at www.sdgfp.info/Wildlife/hunting/BigGame/CWD.htm.

--GFP--