Hello everyone. My name is Jake Hubner and I am working with Provincial Wildlife Health on CWD monitoring, primarily as the Okanagan CWD Program coordinator. Having recently discovered this forum, I wanted to provide an update on CWD in BC and make sure folks know how we’ve expanded and improved the Program over the years.
First off, we are still collecting samples/heads for testing. As many as we can, all across the province. Sample submission is mandatory in 11 MUs in Region 4. CWD infected animals have been detected within natural range of the BC border, so the areas adjacent to Alberta and Montana are highest risk. However, as people have mentioned in this thread, there is also a risk of CWD arriving from carcasses transported from Alberta or other CWD-positive areas into BC. If this happens, the disease could appear anywhere. With this in mind, we are trying to get a baseline number of heads from each region through voluntary submissions in order to have a level of confidence that our wild populations are CWD-free. For example, our Okanagan target is 300 heads per year.
Hunters can contribute by dropping off the de-antlered head of a harvested deer, elk, or moose at one of our many freezer locations across the province (a full list can be found at
https://www2.gov.bc.ca/gov/content/e...ce-and-testing). We’re adding freezers every year and will update the site accordingly when we do. For those interested in mounting the skull plate (any animal) or a European-style mount (deer only), this is also possible. The tissues we test are found in the back of the throat for deer and at the base of the skull for elk and moose, meaning you can remove the skull plate before submitting. For deer you can also just submit the low jaw with tissues (tonsils and lymph nodes) at the back of the throat.
All you need to do at the freezer is fill out a short ear tag with your contact info and the general area you shot your animal, zip-tie the tag to the head, and drop the bagged head off in the freezer (all these supplies will be available at the freezer). Make sure to keep your tag number so you can check out the results on our website once the results come in. We would only contact you directly if a test came up positive.
CWD is a very concerning disease that’s at BC’s doorstep. Preemptive detection and swift action can make the difference between keeping long-term prevalence rates low and having them get out of control. We have been able to learn a lot from the approaches and results of other states and provinces. If you’re interested, you can look at our recently updated monitoring and management plan here:
https://www2.gov.bc.ca/gov/content/e...disease/cwd-bc
We don’t have all the answers about CWD, but I’m happy to address questions or thoughts. Thanks for reading this update.