CWD reported in single bull elk at W. Slope ranch
Site had earlier brush with malady
By Theo Stein
Denver Post Environment Writer
A 4-year-old bull elk has tested positive for chronic wasting disease on a trophy-hunting ranch south of Craig, the first case identified in a captive elk in two years.
State agriculture department officials immediately quarantined the 200 elk on the 1,800-acre Motherwell Ranch in Hamilton while they figure out what to do next.
"But it is the top priority of this agency to put that herd down," spokesman Jim Miller said.
This is the second time that the Motherwell Ranch has come under suspicion of harboring the fatal brain-wasting disease.
Two years ago, 10 wild mule deer trapped behind the Motherwell's fences were found to be infected with the malady, which is related to sheep scrapie and mad cow disease.
The disease is thought to be caused by an abnormally folded protein that makes its victims grow thin and die as it eats holes in their brains.
But since it was wild deer and not captive elk that were infected before, ranch owner Wes Adams refused to let the state depopulate the ranch and test all his elk. He argued that enough elk would be tested after being killed by customers to detect the disease if it infected his animals.
Agriculture officials declined to mount the legal battle to force his hand.
Adams, a Las Vegas contractor, could not be reached for comment Friday.
At the time, the mule deer were the first cases discovered on Colorado's Western Slope. An intense surveillance program during the 2002 hunting season revealed that about 1 percent of the deer and elk north of Interstate 70 were infected with the disease.
Since then the ranch has not had a positive case, Miller said, adding that he believed the ranch had complied with a state law requiring that the brains of all dead elk be submitted for testing.
The new case involved a 4-year-old bull that was killed by other elk at the ranch. Researchers say infected animals often provoke an aggressive response from herdmates.
Veterinarians may never know how the bull got the disease. Researchers believe the abnormal protein thought to cause CWD can be transmitted from animal to animal. But they also think the protein can persist in the environment for years.
"It's not welcome news, but it's something we expected," said Ron Walker, president of the Colorado Elk Breeders Association. "The Motherwell (ranch) was contaminated from the deer. Where else could that bull have gotten it?"
But in 2001, state records show the ranch reported nine elk "missing and assumed dead" - their brains were not tested as required by state law.
"The responsible thing to do was depopulate the herd," said Suzanne O'Neil of the Colorado Wildlife Federation. "But Mr. Adams did not want to do that."
O'Neil said her group will push to make sure the ranch's elk are all tested this time.
Most of the Motherwell stock came from the nearby ranch of Lou Wyman, the "grandfather of the Colorado elk industry." Wyman sold his herd in 1997, the same year CWD was first detected in a captive elk in Saskatchewan.
Agriculture records also show that the Wyman elk ranch suffered dozens of elk deaths in 1995, three years before the Agriculture Department adopted a CWD surveillance program.
http://www.denverpost.com/Stories/0,1413,36~11799~1911396,00.html
***********************************************************
Although the story doesn't mention it, the mule deer that tested positive on the ranch two years ago were part of the wild herd that Adams fenced in when he created the ranch. He fenced in at least 40 mule deer and I don't remember how many wild elk. When the state found out about it, they required him to remove the wild animals (kill them) so he let public hunters in to do it. I do remember that at one time the count of elk that had been killed was over 20.
Oak
<FONT COLOR="#800080" SIZE="1">[ 01-24-2004 22:55: Message edited by: Colorado Oak ]</font>
Site had earlier brush with malady
By Theo Stein
Denver Post Environment Writer
A 4-year-old bull elk has tested positive for chronic wasting disease on a trophy-hunting ranch south of Craig, the first case identified in a captive elk in two years.
State agriculture department officials immediately quarantined the 200 elk on the 1,800-acre Motherwell Ranch in Hamilton while they figure out what to do next.
"But it is the top priority of this agency to put that herd down," spokesman Jim Miller said.
This is the second time that the Motherwell Ranch has come under suspicion of harboring the fatal brain-wasting disease.
Two years ago, 10 wild mule deer trapped behind the Motherwell's fences were found to be infected with the malady, which is related to sheep scrapie and mad cow disease.
The disease is thought to be caused by an abnormally folded protein that makes its victims grow thin and die as it eats holes in their brains.
But since it was wild deer and not captive elk that were infected before, ranch owner Wes Adams refused to let the state depopulate the ranch and test all his elk. He argued that enough elk would be tested after being killed by customers to detect the disease if it infected his animals.
Agriculture officials declined to mount the legal battle to force his hand.
Adams, a Las Vegas contractor, could not be reached for comment Friday.
At the time, the mule deer were the first cases discovered on Colorado's Western Slope. An intense surveillance program during the 2002 hunting season revealed that about 1 percent of the deer and elk north of Interstate 70 were infected with the disease.
Since then the ranch has not had a positive case, Miller said, adding that he believed the ranch had complied with a state law requiring that the brains of all dead elk be submitted for testing.
The new case involved a 4-year-old bull that was killed by other elk at the ranch. Researchers say infected animals often provoke an aggressive response from herdmates.
Veterinarians may never know how the bull got the disease. Researchers believe the abnormal protein thought to cause CWD can be transmitted from animal to animal. But they also think the protein can persist in the environment for years.
"It's not welcome news, but it's something we expected," said Ron Walker, president of the Colorado Elk Breeders Association. "The Motherwell (ranch) was contaminated from the deer. Where else could that bull have gotten it?"
But in 2001, state records show the ranch reported nine elk "missing and assumed dead" - their brains were not tested as required by state law.
"The responsible thing to do was depopulate the herd," said Suzanne O'Neil of the Colorado Wildlife Federation. "But Mr. Adams did not want to do that."
O'Neil said her group will push to make sure the ranch's elk are all tested this time.
Most of the Motherwell stock came from the nearby ranch of Lou Wyman, the "grandfather of the Colorado elk industry." Wyman sold his herd in 1997, the same year CWD was first detected in a captive elk in Saskatchewan.
Agriculture records also show that the Wyman elk ranch suffered dozens of elk deaths in 1995, three years before the Agriculture Department adopted a CWD surveillance program.
http://www.denverpost.com/Stories/0,1413,36~11799~1911396,00.html
***********************************************************
Although the story doesn't mention it, the mule deer that tested positive on the ranch two years ago were part of the wild herd that Adams fenced in when he created the ranch. He fenced in at least 40 mule deer and I don't remember how many wild elk. When the state found out about it, they required him to remove the wild animals (kill them) so he let public hunters in to do it. I do remember that at one time the count of elk that had been killed was over 20.
Oak
<FONT COLOR="#800080" SIZE="1">[ 01-24-2004 22:55: Message edited by: Colorado Oak ]</font>
