Patrick Durkin: "The real problem of CWD, it will not disappear" | Outside

LOUISVILLE, Kentucky – Skeptical questions and impromptu speech disguised as questions seemed too familiar to Wisconsinites on January 11 during a one-hour press conference on chronic withering at the annual Archery Trade Association trade show.

The roundtable / press conference was convened by the Quality Deer Management Association and the National Deer Alliance. Brian Murphy, CEO of QDMA; Kip Adams, Director of Conservation, QDMA; Nick Pinizzotto, President / CEO of the NDA; and Dr. Grant Woods of Growing Deer TV.

After the panelists spent 30 minutes informing the crowd of CWD's continuing spread in North America, some members of the public regretted that national wildlife agencies were trying to eradicate deer herds before CWD could inflict the disease. same fate. Others questioned the lethality of CWD, noting that epidemics of epizootic haemorrhagic disease, or EHD, leave many bodies in decomposition. "Where are the carcbades of CWD?" They muttered.

Sigh. Some people continue to ignore the fortuitous experience of Wisconsin over the past 17 years. Either that, or they only listen to the negations of our state, who scream at the lies more and more loudly as the evidence makes fun of their nonsense.

Let's answer the questions of skeptics. Yes, the EHD is more visible than the CWD. EHDs usually hit specific areas with force, dropping deer in or near ponds and other waters where thirsty and feverish victims sought relief. The EHD then disappears, often remaining years before returning, while its survivors become more immune.

CWD is much more subtle but more deadly, it moves slowly and never leaves. His victims simply disappear during struggles of more than two years with the still deadly disease, making them three times more likely to die in any given year than healthy deer. Research shows that they are more likely to be hit by cars, hunters or predators.

These doomed deer seem generally healthy for our untrained eyes. Therefore, to say that CWD does not kill deer is like pretending that cancer does not kill people if there is no flu or pneumonia.

As CWD increases its range and worsens, wildlife agencies in Iowa, Tennessee, Missouri, Minnesota, Michigan, Montana and other states extend the hunting season and impose mandatory sampling to badess the presence and frequency of the disease.

No state, however, is seeking the eradication of the herd. MNR Wisconsin launched this suicide charge in 2002, unintentionally provoking a public / political reaction that has emboldened opponents and undermined the scientific management of disease since.

We should not wish for such a fossilized opinion of the most inexperienced hosts of CWD, such as Tennessee, with at least 24 cases so far in wild deer; Maryland, 27 cases; Minnesota, 32; Iowa, 44; Michigan, 111; Missouri, 86 years old; West Virginia, 350; Arkansas, 400 years and older; or even Illinois, 750-plus since 2002.

Wisconsin identified 5,201 cases of MDC during this period, about three times the combined total of these nine states.

Before the country's most skeptical people no longer disregard wildlife protection agencies, they should study Wisconsin data on CWD. On Wednesday, the DNR had confirmed the MDC on a record 1,015 out of 16,715 (6%) deer hunted by hunters tested until now in 2018-2019. The previous record was 602 in 2017-18, when the DNR tested 9,907 (6%) deer shot by a hunter.

These are not state averages, of course. The tests are voluntary and have nothing systematic. We can not disturb our fellow deer hunters with scientific sampling, you know it.

For a more focused examination, examine the central region of Dane, Iowa, Sauk and Richland counties, west of Madison, where 866 deer hunted were tested positive for CWD, or 85.3%. of the 1,015 cases of Wisconsin MDC performed to date in the test cycle, which ends March 31st. These four counties represent 4,629 cases of PCD since 2001, representing 89% of the 5,201 cases in Wisconsin.

Innocents outside of Wisconsin who question their country's "aggressive" DAC actions should look at how the former DNR secretary Cathy Stepp's "pbadive" approach has worked since its inauguration in 2014.

Four years ago, the counties of Dane, Iowa, Sauk and Richland generated 307 cases of CWD in 2 703 deer hunted, an infection rate of 11.4%. The 866 CWD cases occurring this year in this region were from 4,761 hunted deer hunters, a rate of 18.2%. Yes, hunters provided 76% more samples in 2018, but with voluntary testing, everyone can guess if more samples are diluting or increasing detection rates.

At the same time, at the press conference, Pinizzotto encouraged hunters to "own" the disease by working together to support wildlife agencies and scientific efforts to learn more about MDC. He added that the NDA now spends 75% of its efforts on the destruction of chemical waste, including trips to Washington, asking lawmakers to fund more research and testing.

Pinizzotto said lawmakers were finally listening as the disease was found in elk or deer in 26 states. Tennessee became the newest state to identify CWD in wild deer when it confirmed 13 cases in late December and at least 11 more this month.

Officials at the National Elk Refuge, near Jackson Hole, Wyoming, are also concerned about CWD on the shelter's famous feeding grounds after the positive test of a mule deer in Teton County in November.

Pinizzotto also urged hunters to obtain their information from the CWD Alliance (http: // www.cwd-info.org), a non-partisan scientific group affiliated with the Wildlife Management Institute, Boone and Crockett Club, the Mule Deer Foundation, the Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation, Whitetails Unlimited, the National Shooting Sports Foundation and other respected conservation groups.

"We have to overcome all the wrong information that exists," said Pinizzotto. "It's easy to believe someone when he says exactly what you want to hear, but it's a real problem that's not going to go away."