Wyoming wildlife officials are asking elk hunters to help with disease monitoring efforts.
The Wyoming Game and Fish Department (WGFD) mailed close to 9,000 brucellosis test kits this year. Kits were mailed to hunters near Yellowstone National Park and the southeast part of the state as part of an annual surveillance program.
Jessica Jennings-Gaines is a Wildlife Health Laboratory Supervisor with WGFD. She said not every hunter with a tag in these areas will receive a kit, but she encourages those that do to participate.
“If you are lucky enough to get one of those tests, we would appreciate it if you grab us a sample after you’ve harvested your elk. There’s a blood tube with some napkins and a little ziploc bag in there. You can take that blood tube and fill it up when you’re quartering your elk,” she said.
From test kits that were mailed out last year, 36 elk were exposed to or infected with brucellosis, which is a reproductive disease that can cause elk and cattle to abort their young.
Two of those elk were in areas of the state that aren’t usually monitored. One was found in the western slope of the Bighorns and another in the Southern tip of the Wind River Range.
As an incentive to encourage hunters to return blood samples, Game and Fish partnered with outdoor companies to enter participants in a raffle to win some prizes.
More information is available here.
