Following the discovery of two mule deer infected with Chronic Wasting Disease, the Idaho Fish and Game Commission has designated a Chronic Wasting Disease Management Zone in the area the deer were harvested.
The two deer were shot in Idaho Hunting Unit 14 near Lucile earlier this month.
The fatal and contagious disease had not previously been documented in Idaho but poses a threat to wild deer and elk herds.
The commission approved a recommendation from the department to establish a CWD management zone in units 14 and 15.
Commissioners also gave Idaho Fish and Game Director Ed Schriever authority to establish special “surveillance hunts” in a larger area that includes all of units 14, 15, and parts of 11A, 13, 18 and 23. Schriever says the department is still working to determine the parameters of the hunts, including the number and geographic distribution of tags that will be reserved for resident hunters and sold at a discounted rate.
The hunts, which will target a mix of about 1,000 mule deer and whitetails, are designed to help the agency map the prevalence of the disease and it’s geographic scope. They are not intended to contain the disease but the commission could authorize hunts designed to do that in the future.
Meanwhile, the U.S. Agriculture Department, which oversees domestic elk other big game species in the state, will also increase monitoring and testing of domestic animals which are often imported and exported from and to other states.
