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Pinedale Online > News > January 2010 > Testing Muddy Creek elk

Muddy Creek trap. Photo by Cat Urbigkit, Pinedale Online.
Muddy Creek trap
This photo shows one portion of the Muddy Creek elk feedground trap.

Penned. Photo by Cat Urbigkit.
Penned
Adult cows give off steam in the cold morning air while being held in a round corral portion of the elk trap.

Dean Clause. Photo by Cat Urbigkit, Pinedale Online.
Dean Clause
Wyoming Game and Fish Department biologist Dean Clause prepares to draw a blood sample from the neck of a cow elk.
Testing Muddy Creek elk
Four cows sent to slaughter
by Cat Urbigkit, Pinedale Online!
January 29, 2010

State wildlife personnel processed elk for brucellosis testing at the Muddy Creek elk feedground Sunday morning. The elk were baited into the trap Saturday evening, and held overnight so work could proceed early Sunday.

A total of 158 elk were captured, of which 82 were adult females subject to brucellosis testing.

Blood samples from the elk were driven to the Wyoming State Veterinary Laboratory in Laramie where they were subjected to a series of tests. With results available overnight, four animals with seropositive results were transported to a USDA-approved slaughter facility in eastern Idaho on Monday morning. The remaining animals that did not test positive for the contagious disease were released back onto the feedground.

Brucellosis is a bacterial-caused disease of the reproductive tract, so only adult females are tested. Brucellosis causes abortion in hoofed animals and is transmitted by direct contact with infected animals or with an environment that has been contaminated with discharges from infected animals. There is no cure for the disease. It can also be transmitted to humans. Brucellosis transmitted from elk to cattle has led to the slaughter of several entire cattle herds in Sublette County since 2003.

At the Muddy Creek feedground, brucellosis seroprevalence rates haveprogressively decreased from 37 percent to 7 percent in the first four years of the test-and-removal program. This is the fifth and final year of the pilot testing program.



Related Links
  • Wyoming Game & Fish Brucellosis Management
  • Wyoming Game & Fish

  • Elk Trap. Photo by Cat Urbigkit, Pinedale Online.
    Elk Trap
    State wildlife personnel prepare to work elk in individual chutes on one side of the elk trap.

    Dean. Photo by Cat Urbigkit, Pinedale Online.
    Dean
    Wyoming Game and Fish Department biologist Dean Clause prepares to draw a blood sample from the neck of a cow elk.

    Squeeze. Photo by Cat Urbigkit, Pinedale Online.
    Squeeze
    WG&F personnel work the squeeze chutes handling individual elk.

    Calf. Photo by Cat Urbigkit, Pinedale Online.
    Calf
    A calf elk flees the trap after an eartag was inserted in its ear.

    Recording data. Photo by Cat Urbigkit, Pinedale Online.
    Recording data
    WG&F's Terry Kreeger reads aloud the numbers of the blood vial so that the information can be recorded on a personal digital assistant.

    Chute. Photo by Cat Urbigkit, Pinedale Online.
    Chute
    Elk stand together waiting for further processing.

    Spike. Photo by Cat Urbigkit, Pinedale Online.
    Spike
    A spike elk awaits being set free from the elk trap.

    Processed. Photo by Cat Urbigkit, Pinedale Online.
    Processed
    Adult cows are held overnight in the trap while the blood samples are being processed at the state vet lab in Laramie.

    Elk. Photo by Cat Urbigkit, Pinedale Online.
    Elk
    The numbers on the rubber neck bands match the numbers on the blood vials, so animals with positive test results can be indentified for culling.

    Debriefing. Photo by Cat Urbigkit, Pinedale Online.
    Debriefing
    WG&F personnel have a brief meeting at the conclusion of the morning's work at the Muddy Creek elk feedground.
      
    Pinedale Online > News > January 2010 > Testing Muddy Creek elk

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