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Kansas City, Mo. – Fortunately, the deadly chronic wasting disease (CWD) that kills white-tailed deer and other cervids has not been detected to date in the Kansas City metro area or nearby counties. However, many deer hunters in both firearms and archery seasons do hunt in counties south and east of the metro area, places where the Missouri Department of Conservation (MDC) has detected deer with the disease and is carrying out programs to monitor and limit the disease. MDC will host a free chronic wasting disease symposium from 6 to 8:30 p.m. on Friday, Aug. 16, at the Burr Oak Woods Nature Center, 1401 N.W. Park Road, in Blue Springs.
This symposium is offered in partnership with the Quality Deer Management Association and the Back Country Hunters & Anglers group.
The cooperation and understanding of the state’s deer hunters is greatly appreciated and crucial to success at limiting CWD prevalence. Missouri offers some of the nation’s best white-tailed deer hunting. Deer hunting also generates $1 billion annually for the state’s economy. Limiting the prevalence of CWD in local areas where it has been detected, by monitoring and reducing deer population numbers in those areas, is a way to keep the state’s overall deer herd and hunting traditions healthy.
Jason Sumners and Kip Adams will be the featured speakers. Sumners is MDC’s Resource Science division chief and has previously served as a deer biologist. Adams, of Pennsylvania, is a certified wildlife biologist and director of conservation for the Quality Deer Management Association. He brings a national perspective to CWD issues and represents an organization that often works with private landowners to improve deer habitat.
CWD remains relatively rare in Missouri. But MDC is proactively working in partnership with hunters and landowners to maintain that trend.
This symposium is a chance for deer hunters and property managers to get information about CWD from experts. There will be a question and answer portion of the program. Attendees can learn about the science behind efforts to limit the disease in Missouri, how the disease infects and affects deer, and what steps the public can take to help.
Seating is limited so attendees are asked to register in advance by visiting the MDC Events page at https://short.mdc.mo.gov/Zgm. For more information, call MDC’s Burr Oak Woods Nature Center at 816-228-3766, or send an email to Missouri@backcountryhunters.org.
More information about CWD in Missouri is available at https://short.mdc.mo.gov/Z3N.
