Late last year federal officials discovered the carcass of a mule deer buck near Yellowstone Lake in a remote region of Yellowstone National Park.
Late last year federal officials discovered the carcass of a mule deer buck near Yellowstone Lake in a remote region of Yellowstone National Park. Its cause of death was chronic wasting disease (CWD), experts said, making this the first confirmed death of an animal in the park from the disease.
The discovery was alarming, but it wasn’t a surprise. First discovered in deer in Colorado in 1967, CWD has since spread, primarily through wild and captive deer populations, across the United States, Canada, and globally. The transportation of live or harvested deer around the country has also contributed to the spread. It’s now found in 34 states, five provinces, and in four other countries. California just became the latest state to confirm cases, and British Columbia recently found its first cases. Experts believe the disease will be present in all 48 contiguous states within the next decade.
While the unusual disease has primarily afflicted white-tailed deer and mule deer, it infects all cervids, including moose, elk, reindeer, and caribou.
Read more at: Yale Environment 360
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