13 elk caught in park test positive for disease

By Todd Hartman, Rocky Mountain News (Contact)

Thursday, April 10, 2008

The first results of a new, live-animal test for chronic wasting disease found that 13 of 117 captured elk in Rocky Mountain National Park were positive.

The results mark the initial fruits of an unprecedented research and population-control project in the park. It was designed, in part, to evaluate the use of a live test for the fatal disease on wild, free-ranging elk. A live test has been in use for deer.

The rate of infection - 11 percent - appears high for elk. Typical disease rates in the wild have hovered closer to 1 percent or 2 percent.

A National Park Service statement said researchers weren't surprised, however, because the park's herd is larger, less migratory and more concentrated than it would be under natural conditions, with hunting and predators to scatter the animals. Such confined conditions make the spread of CWD more likely.

"Research has also shown that elk densities on the core winter range (in the park) are the highest concentrations ever documented for a free-ranging population in the Rocky Mountains," the park service said.

A total of 136 elk were captured from January through mid-March from herds in Moraine Park and Beaver Meadows on the park's east side. Of those, 117 yielded usable tissue for CWD testing. At the time of capture, none of the animals exhibited symptoms of the illness.

The CWD testing is part of a broader effort, also designed to reduce elk numbers in the park and test a new birth-control drug for the animals.

The elk population, unchecked by hunters and wolves, has grown too large for the park to support, ecologists say, leading to overgrazing on willows and aspen, and damaging habitat for other plants and animals.

Elk testing positive for CWD will be among up to 200 a year killed in the park as part of the effort to reduce population to a target herd size of 1,600 to 2,100. Just how many elk are culled per year will depend on annual population surveys and hunter success.

hartmant@RockyMountainNews.com or 303-954-5048

• April 10, 2008

  8:42 a.m.

  Suggest removal

  Squatch writes:

  I hike all year round and if this disease was such a destructive force i would expect to find dear carcasses very often but instead i dont see deer or elk dead.

• April 10, 2008

  8:43 a.m.

  Suggest removal

  Squatch writes:

  I also hunted in the CWD units the DOW proclaims but the only thing killing the deer & elk was the CDOW before they had thier Live animal testing.

• April 10, 2008

  9:45 a.m.

  Suggest removal

  homeradam writes:

  Not to blindside you SQUATCH, but I also hunt in a CWD area and have seen animals that were sick. I don't know if it was CWD, but when a herd a deer is running up a hill and the sick are stumbling and struggling just to get up the hill, something is wrong. The reason you might not see dead animals is because nature is extremely effective in cleaning up a carcass. Have you ever gone back and seen your previous years harvest? You may see a few bones, but for the most part everything is used and disappears. I don't agree with the DOW helicopter gunships mowing down herds of deer, but this live testing is a good start to improving our herds.

• April 10, 2008

  12:11 p.m.

  Suggest removal

  Boulder_Badger writes:

  Three deer, that I had to leave until the next morning because they needed to be packed out, and one beef calf have been carried off by mountain lions (based on tracks) and I never found the remains.

  CWD is infectious and always fatal so maybe you should think about the worst-case situation instead of being too optimistic. Wildlife biologists base opinions on peer reviewed research studies and are credible - wildlife advocates have an opinion that is like a religion. CWD tests do not catch early stages of the disease. Bottom line: the elk and deer in Rocky Mountain Park are overpopulated for the carrying capacity of the habitats and spreading a bad disease.

• April 10, 2008

  2:32 p.m.

  Suggest removal

  Mtnsjohn writes:

  Just more proof that the National Park Service with the Colorado DOW should seriously consider allowing a limited one weekend hunt open to the public, rather than the politically correct "culling by marksmen" and the donation of meat.

  This would be the fastest, most efficent way to decrease the population that, according to this account, is desperately needed.

  I, too, have seen what was most likely CWD: a spike elk having a hard time even standing. Appeared to be a slow painful death to me. Two days later, crows, magpies and coyotes did an nice job cleaning up.

• April 10, 2008

  3:31 p.m.

  Suggest removal

  AngelontheSidelines writes:

  I can see it now, legislation introduced by Wayne Allard; the Elk Health Act.

  Force the NPS to allow unlimited hunting of all elk, once they are completely eliminated CWD will not have a chance.

• April 10, 2008

  5:34 p.m.

  Suggest removal

  Mtnsjohn writes:

  Angel,

  You are just plain goofy. I live in Estes Park and everyday see the overpopulation of elk trying to find enough forage to sustain life. Sorry, but there are finite resources and crowded unhealthy elk are more susceptable to Chronic Wasting Disease.

  Hunting and fishing brings millions into the State of Colorado, and supports both game and non-game species to a greater extent than do those criticizing on the sidelines. The Colorado DOW is fully self-supported and gets NO funds from the State General Fund. Responsible game management is the key and you just don't see the Sierra Club or PETA doing much of that.

  At present it does not appear that humans can contract CWD (related to Mad Cow Disease), but do we wait for it to evolve into a strain that can affect humans? Reducing the overpopulation would help give elk and deer a chance.