Residents concerned about the chronic wasting disease (CWD) cases in the area can ask experts questions in an open house later this week.
The info session is scheduled for Thursday at 7 p.m. at the Heritage Inn, with provincial wildlife biologist Holger Bohm and biosecurity expert Jessica Russel to discuss the impacts of CWD.
So far five cases have been identified in the Cranbrook area and more testing is being done.
“This is for everyone who cares about wildlife and deer, really. If you care about the future of wild and urban deer, we want as many people as we can get to come out and hear from the experts,” said BC Wildlife Federation executive director Jesse Zeman.
“Hopefully people come out with a better understanding of where we’re at, what CWD means and what we do in the future to keep prevalence low so we can do the best job we can in taking care of wildlife in the Kootenay region.”
The province recently announced an urban deer cull to test for the disease.
Officials were culling 100 deer in both Cranbrook and Kimberley.
CWD is a fatal infection that affects cervids, such as mule deer, white-tailed deer, elk, moose and caribou.
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