Wyo. lawmakers want to test wolves for brucellosis
By MATT JOYCE, Idaho Statesman, 02/24/09 [here]
CHEYENNE, Wyo. — Wyoming lawmakers are working to link two of the Northern Rockies’ most difficult wildlife management issues: wolves and brucellosis.
A bill making its way through the Wyoming Legislature would appropriate $45,000 from the state’s general fund to conduct a yearlong study.
It would task the Wyoming Game and Fish Commission with collecting and testing blood and tissue samples from wolves to determine the prevalence of the infectious disease in wolves.
Lawmakers behind the bill say proving that wolves carry brucellosis would bolster the state’s argument for limiting the wolf population to the Yellowstone area.
Game and Fish Department Director Steve Ferrell says studies conducted elsewhere have drawn conflicting conclusions about whether brucellosis carried by wolves can infect other wildlife or livestock.