Carcass Testing

Wildlife officials will be testing game carcasses in southwestern Wyoming this hunting season to get a better understanding of populations in the area and to study diseases and parasites in animals. Lucy Diggins-Wold with the Wyoming Game and Fish Department says testing is performed every year, but for the second year, the focus will be on moose. The Casper Star-Tribune reports that, according to research from the department and its wildlife diseases laboratory in Laramie, moose populations throughout the world have been declining. This is especially the case in southern populations, which includes Wyoming. No single cause has been identified, but reduced habitat quality and increased parasite loads could be playing a role.