February 22, 2002 Associated PressHunters and state biologists will kill thousands of deer in three northern Colorado herds under a plan approved by wildlife officials to contain chronic wasting disease.
The plan would thin herds by killing about 4,500 deer out of nearly 19,000 over the next two to five years. It was approved unanimously Thursday by Colorado wildlife commissioners.
Some mountain homeowners and animal-welfare activists had criticized the plan as too excessive and asked for more research on chronic wasting disease.
They worried that mountain lions, with fewer deer to stalk, would turn to pets and livestock. Others suggested that chronic wasting disease may be a natural check on population.
Some opponents said officials should kill only sick deer that are identified through a tonsil test.
Wildlife division veterinarian Mike Miller said tonsil testing is reliable but impractical on a large scale, because animals must be anesthetized and then held until test results are known, or released and somehow relocated if a test is positive.
Rick Kahn, wildlife management supervisor of the Colorado Division of Wildlife, said if officials did nothing, the disease would continue to spread.
Earlier this week, South Dakota officials acknowledged their first case of wasting disease in a wild deer.
Home | News | Organics | GE
Food | Health | Environment | Food
Safety | Fair
Trade | Peace | Farm
Issues | Politics
Forum | Español | Campaigns | Buying
Guide | Press | Search | Volunteer | Donate | About Us | Contact
Us | Email
This Page
Organic Consumers Association - 6771
South Silver Hill Drive, Finland MN 55603
E-mail: Staff · Activist or Media
Inquiries: 218-226-4164 · Fax: 218-353-7652
Please support our work. Send
a tax-deductible donation to the OCA
Fair Use Notice: The material on this site is provided for educational and informational purposes. It may contain copyrighted material the use of which has not always been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. It is being made available in an effort to advance the understanding of scientific, environmental, economic, social justice and human rights issues etc. It is believed that this constitutes a 'fair use' of any such copyrighted material as provided for in section 107 of the US Copyright Law. In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, the material on this site is distributed without profit to those who have an interest in using the included information for research and educational purposes. If you wish to use copyrighted material from this site for purposes of your own that go beyond 'fair use', you must obtain permission from the copyright owner. The information on this site does not constitute legal or technical advice.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
