State hopes to sample hundreds of white-tails – Montana
Category: article
Jun 11th, 2019 by Keith Worrall 255
Modified Jun 11th, 2019 at 10:11 AM
The Montana Department of Fish, Wildlife and Parks’ response to the recent discovery of chronic wasting disease in a white-tailed deer in Libby includes tentative plans for the killing and sampling of roughly 200 white-tailed deer within the city and the sampling of at least another 200 white-tailed deer killed by hunters this fall within a 10-mile radius of Libby.
Neil Anderson, wildlife program manager and chronic wasting disease expert for Fish, Wildlife and Parks’ Region One, said Friday the department must get city approval for killing deer within Libby.
He said hunters during regular hunting season would be enlisted to provide white-tailed deer for sampling.
Anderson said deer are now in fawning season and that it’s best to wait until fall to launch the collection effort.
“None of this is going to happen immediately,” he said.