Idaho culls mule deer trapped in domestic elk ranch
More than 80 wild mule deer that found their way inside a captive elk facility in southeastern Idaho have been killed over the past few months, according to an Idaho Department of Fish and Game news release.
Some of the animals were killed by hunters holding depredation tags while others were killed by department personnel and then donated to local food banks after testing negative for chronic wasting disease.
According to the news release, people hunting adjacent to the high-fence domestic elk ranch in Game Management Unit 60A noticed and reported the presence of deer in the facility.
Elk ranching is managed by the Idaho Department of Agriculture and wild animals like mule deer are managed by the Idaho Department of Fish and Game.
The deer appear to have gained access to the facility through gaps in and under the fence. The ranch is not among the handful of domestic elk facilities in that part of the state that are under quarantine for CWD. However, the facility is required to test animals for the disease because some of its elk were sourced from an area in Alberta, Canada, where CWD is present.
Because of that, Idaho Fish and Game officials determined the risk that the animals may have been exposed to the disease was too high for the deer to be hazed back through the fence.
All of the lethally removed deer are being tested for the disease. So far, none have come back positive.
Captive elk facilities have come under scrutiny lately after multiple facilities have had animals test positive for the fatal disease. In addition, there have been multiple examples of wild animals, including deer, elk and moose, getting into the facilities and multiple examples of domestic animals escaping — which raises the threat of CWD spreading to wild animals.
“The evidence is mounting: domestic elk operations are posing an unacceptable risk to Idaho’s wild cervids and shifting the burden to hunters, wildlife managers, and the public,” said Jeff Abrams of the Idaho Conservation League. “Our Legislature desperately needs to revisit elk farm laws they watered down only two years ago. We must all work together to strengthen biosecurity measures and enforcement of rules for these facilities.”
Public records obtained by the Idaho Conservation League showed a bull moose was euthanized by Fish and Game after it was found inside the Broadmouth Canyon Ranch, the high-fence hunting operation owned by former NFL player Rulon Jones. The moose was shot instead of hazed out of the facility to preclude the possibility that it was a CWD vector.
A domestic bull elk that escaped from Broadmouth Ranch was killed by a hunter 3 miles away on Oct. 17. The elk that had not been reported as missing was identified as domestic by an ear tag. The animal didn’t have CWD, according to testing.
On Oct. 18, a hunter killed a wild bull elk that was inside the Falls Elk facility. The hunter shot from outside the fence. Officers found holes in the fence and places where it was less than 4 feet tall.
On Sept. 8, a hunter killed a bull elk that escaped from the Juniper Mountain Ranch elk facility. The hunter had been scouting the bull for months.
Scott Leibsle, the state veterinarian for the Department of Agriculture, told the Tribune in an email message that it is standard procedure for the agency to meet with producers found to be out of compliance with regulations and “develop a plan and a timeline to correct the problem.”
Barker may be contacted at ebarker@lmtribune.com.