Deer, elk heads needed for testing

Deer, elk heads needed for testing

October 16, 2001

BY THE COLORADO DIVISION OF WILDLIFE

DENVER — Deer and elk hunters in portions of Middle Park, North Park and the San Luis Valley are being asked to submit the heads of animals they kill during the upcoming rifle seasons so the Division of Wildlife can test them for chronic wasting disease as part of its ongoing surveillance efforts.

Chronic wasting disease has existed in a small percent of deer and elk in northeastern Colorado and southeastern Wyoming for more than 30 years.

Tests of nearly 2,000 free-ranging wild deer and elk from other portions of Colorado have turned up no trace of the disease.

The fatal illness has never been found in other wildlife species. Federal health officials have found no link between CWD and any human illness.

In North Park, hunters in game management units 6, 16, 17, 161 and 171 are asked to submit the heads of both deer and elk they harvest at designated drop-off locations.

Middle Park hunters in game management units 18, 28, 37 and 371 are also asked to submit only deer heads at designated locations. Elk heads are not being collected in Middle Park.

In the San Luis Valley, hunters who harvest both deer and elk in game management units 79 and 80 are asked to voluntarily submit the heads.

Hunters should include survey tags and attach them to the heads they submit. Since the disease is not known to occur in these areas, hunters will not be notified unless the sampling determines that an animal has contracted the disease.