Tuesday, August 18, 2009

MARYLAND NEWS: National Park Considers Cull to Combat CWD

The spread of a disease fatal to white-tailed deer has prompted the National Park Service to endorse a lethal response at two Civil War battlefields in western Maryland.

The agency is seeking public comment through Sept. 18 on its preferred option of potentially slaughtering hundreds of deer at the Antietam (an-TEE'-tem) and Monocacy (mah-NAH'-kah-see) national battlefields if Chronic Wasting Disease is found within 20 miles.

Both parks are within 60 miles of confirmed cases of the brain disease in West Virginia.

The park service says killing large numbers of deer could prevent the disease from becoming established among the overpopulated herds within the parks.

The contagious illness is fatal to deer but poses no apparent risk to humans.

Source: WJZ

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