(...)Although both animals tested positive for CWD, it was believed they were in the early stages of the disease and did not die from that, the announcement states. The disease is a form of transmissible spongiform encephalopathy, attacking the brains and nervous systems of cervid (deer family) animals.
The SWF doesn't have a lot of faith in the government management policies. An inventory program intended to monitor the number of animals in game farms is "a joke," said Crabbe, who blames game farms for CWD in the province by setting less valuable animals in the wild.
Hunt farms bring in a lot of money for farmers and ranchers who have suffered from reduced incomes during the years. Wealthy hunters from the United States will pay thousands of dollars for a day's hunt, and they want to return with something to show for it, said Crabbe, who is skeptical the diseased Saskatchewan elk were wild animals.
"I find it very coincidental, too coincidental, to find two cows, so close in age, both testing positive in that area," he said, noting cows are less valuable than elk bulls to hunters.
The ministry's wildlife disease specialist, Dr. Yeen Ten Hwang, said there is no evidence the elk were originally domestic.
"There were no ear tags and the pathologist saw no hair loss or ripping where the tags might have been," she said.
Asked why the findings weren't publicized to the media, she said, "I don't know. We've had a lot of CWD in the deer and it was only a matter of time until it was transferred to elk. We sort of expected it."
The first cases of CWD in Canada were traced to a Lloydminster-area farm that imported animals from South Dakota in the 1980s. How CWD is transmitted is not yet completely understood, though it is believed to occur if animals are in close proximity, likely through the saliva, feces or urine.
An outbreak of CWD in the 1990s devastated the herds and livelihoods of many producers. There is no way to confirm the presence of the disease until the brain can be examined. As a result, tens of thousands of animals have been killed to contain the spread of CWD. The vast majority have tested negative.
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