Chronic wasting disease (CWD) could be more widespread than previously thought in Wyoming. Last week, CWD was detected at the Horse Creek Feedground. This new detection is in addition to previously confirmed cases of the fatal disease at the Dell Creek Feedground and Scab Creek Feedground as well as the Black Butte Feedground in the Upper Green River basin where a cow elk tested positive just last week, according to WyoFile.

Further, in December, CWD was confirmed in the Fall Creek Herd, which roams the Gros Ventre, Wyoming and Snake River mountain ranges in the summer and uses the Camp Creek, Dog Creek, Horse Creek and South Park feedgrounds in the winter.

This is bad news for the future of elk herd health as CWD creeps closer to the National Elk Refuge, where between 6,000 and 10,000 elk from the Jackson Elk Herd spend their winters. Should supplemental feeding continue, the U.S. Geological Survey believes that CWD will “reach 35% prevalence and herd size” could “decline by roughly half,” according to WyoFile. 

And the disease isn’t only catastrophic to the Jackson Elk Herd.

The Afton, Fall Creek, Piney, Pinedale, and Upper Green River elk herds could all reach 42% CWD prevalence, with a drop in numbers by nearly 50% within the next 20 years if supplemental feeding continues. However, scientific modeling does “predict better outcomes” for both population and disease prevalence “if feeding ceases,” according to WyoFile.

Should Wyoming feedgrounds close?