British Columbia is introducing an expanded deer hunt in the province's southeast in an attempt to reduce the spread of chronic wasting disease.
The Ministry of Water, Land and Resource Stewardship says the hunt will be active from Jan. 5 to Jan. 31 next year.
Hunters in the Cranbrook area will be allowed to harvest one additional deer above the normal limit of two.
The ministry says the hunt is expected to lower the density of the deer population in the area, which will decrease opportunities for the fatal disease to spread.
Six cases of the disease have been found so far, and the government says the Cranbrook area has been at the centre of "a cluster" of chronic wasting disease cases that are threatening the local deer and elk populations.
The disease was discovered in B.C. for the first time last year, prompting a targeted cull of urban deer herds near Cranbrook and Kimberley in February.
Dozens of deer also died around Grand Forks, B.C., in September, but local officials say those deaths do not appear to be linked to wasting disease.
The province says the hunt in January is open to all licensed hunters in B.C. and covers both antlered and antlerless mule and white-tailed deer.
"Currently, it is estimated that fewer than one per cent of deer in the Cranbrook area are infected with (the disease)," the ministry statement says. "This targeted, time-restricted hunt is one of the ways the province is keeping disease prevalence low and reducing the risk of chronic wasting disease entering or spreading within B.C. wildlife populations."
Picture Courtesy: THE CANADIAN PRESS/Jonathan Hayward
