POWELL, Wyo. — The Shoshone River mule deer herd in Park County is being hit by fatal Chronic Wasting Disease (CWD), with almost half of all bucks affected.
CWD is a a contagious neurological disease that affects deer, elk and moose and causes emaciation, abnormal behavior, loss of bodily functions and death. Animals usually die from CWD within two years, and there is currently no case in which an animal has survived.
According to the Wyoming Game and Fish Department (WGFD), CWD is already spread across a majority of the state. There is currently not much that WGFD can do in terms of mitigating a severe outbreak.
“Unfortunately we don’t have any great methods at our disposal to stop the spread of this disease, and unfortunately it’s so widespread that our efforts would be futile,” says Hank Edwards, WGFD wildlife disease specialist.
Mule deer populations in the Jackson/Pinedale regions have experienced a higher mortality rate this year for fawns due to malnutrition, but average mortality for adults in the Sublette and Wyoming Range deer herds. Preliminary samples from the 2022 hunting season show that CWD prevalence is still less than 1% in the Jackson Elk Herd.
