The Wyoming Game and Fish Department is monitoring Sage Grouse for signs of West Nile Virus. The disease, carried by mosquitos, has a high mortality rate for the bird.
Tom Christiansen, the Department’s Sage Grouse Program Director, says keeping tabs on what kills Sage Grouse is always important, but it’s crucial as the September Deadline approaches for federal officials to decide whether to list Sage Grouse as endangered.
"Pending threatened and endangered species listing decision and all these sorts of things, you want to keep track of various sources of mortality. You wouldn’t want an unknown disease outbreak to impact the population and either not be able to deal with it or blame something else," he says.
The department is asking people to report dead grouse that are not obviously road kill to Game and Fish in a timely manner.
So far this year, just one West Nile case has been reported in humans in Wyoming, and no Sage Grouse have been found to have the disease.