CPW needs your help with CWD!
What's Happening to Colorado's Deer and Elk?
Colorado Parks and Wildlife recognizes the need for healthy and abundant wildlife on the landscape however there are many challenges facing our herds from all fronts.
Chronic wasting disease (CWD) is one area of increasing concern. We need to find adaptive practices to help prevent further spread of CWD and control it in herds that are already affected.
Why take action to address CWD?
Healthy herds of deer, elk, and moose are important to Colorado and Coloradans. CWD presents a real, and undeniable threat to the future of those herds, and the benefits they provide to the ecosystem and the individuals who cherish them.
Ultimately the importance of reducing the impacts of any disease is rooted in Colorado’s responsibility to maintain the long-term health and sustainability its wildlife populations.
CWD results in the early death of an infected animals and, over time, decreases survival rates of infected herds.
Once well established in a herd, CWD is usually impossible to eradicate.
Without CWD management, the presence of the disease will increase and may cause population level declines over time.
What can I do to help with CWD?
Hunters and Outfitters
Keep hunting! Hunting is the single most effective tool wildlife managers have to monitor and manage the spread of CWD.
Hunter harvest is CPW’s primary management tool for controlling CWD.
By submitting harvested animals for CWD sampling, Colorado’s hunters provide critical information about where and how CWD is impacting deer, elk, and moose herds in the state.
Hunters are critical to conservation efforts across the state and protecting our wildlife heritage.
Landowners
Landowners are a critical partner in managing CWD in wild cervid populations as many of Colorado’s deer, elk, and moose live and thrive on private land.
Landowners have a vital part to play in the management of CWD in Colorado since their stewardship of wildlife and its habitat have produced sanctuaries for the state’s deer, elk, and moose herds. CPW depends on its landowner partners to help ensure that CWD does not gain a foothold in Colorado’s private lands.
Wildlife Watchers, Photographers and all Coloradans
Keep getting out there and enjoying the world’s class wildlife viewing in Colorado’s wild places!
Wildlife watching is a large contributor to Colorado's economy and as avid wildlife observers you can help be our eyes and ears on the ground.
You can help curb CWD by reporting sick deer, elk, and moose you may encounter. To make a report, call the CPW office location nearest you.
