Why does the Department of Fisheries and Game conduct a special hunt before the general hunting season?
Since September 2023, Fish and Game has received 163 voluntary CWD tests from animals collected in Unit 1, which is about the size of Delaware. Since 2019, the unit has collected between 145 and 214 samples annually. To accurately estimate disease prevalence in an area, about 200 samples are needed.
Unit 1 has a high density of white-tailed deer – and most hunting and harvest volumes occur during the general hunting season in November. Rather than wait, Fish and Game Department staff would like to get a better idea of the prevalence and distribution of CWD in the Bonners Ferry area so the department and commission can decide if they need to modify upcoming general hunting seasons and/or CWD testing requirements.
CWD and Idaho’s neighbors
The detection of CWD in Block 1 is disappointing but not entirely surprising. Block 1 is surrounded on three sides by Washington, British Columbia, and Montana, where CWD has been detected, including relatively recent detections in Washington and British Columbia.
The first CWD case in Washington was confirmed in early August in an adult female white-tailed deer found dead north of Spokane. British Columbia reported its first CWD cases in February in two deer about 50 miles from the Idaho border. In recent years, numerous CWD cases have been identified in Montana in the Libby area near the Idaho border.
Fish and Game is asking people to report sick or roadkill deer, elk and moose in the U.S. 95 corridor from near Bonners Ferry to the Canadian border, as well as along Highway 2 from Bonners Ferry to the Montana border. If people in Boundary County observe deer, elk or moose that appear to be sick, report the sighting by calling the Panhandle Region Office at (208) 769-1414.
Chronic wasting disease is a contagious, fatal neurological disease that affects deer, elk, and moose. Symptoms may include excessive salivation, drooping heads/ears, tremors, extremely low body weight, and unusual behavior such as lack of fear of people and lack of coordination.
There is no cure for CWD, no approved live test for wildlife, and no vaccine. For more information about CWD, visit idfg.idaho.gov.cwd.
