The Saskatchewan Wildlife Federation (SWF) is sounding off on the province’s decision to terminate its chronic wasting disease (CWD) testing program. The province announced late last week that the program would be ceased effective Oct. 31. The SWF is calling for the program to be reinstated, describing it as an important tool for monitoring the disease. The federation is particularly concerned that the decision may lead to provincial funding for laboratory testing to be discontinued — specifically testing of eligible game-farmed animals. According to the SWF, the wildlife testing program costs around $450,000 annually, with more than $300,000 coming from the Fish and Wildlife Development Fund — which receives a portion of hunting and angling licence revenues. The SWF questions why a program which is “supported substantially by licence-funded conservation dollars is being eliminated.” The organization is urging hunters and anyone concerned about Saskatchewan wildlife testing to contact their local MLA. The province said its decision to discontinue the program was driven by low uptake by hunters. “Government is always looking at efficiencies and since uptake across our hunters has been low, we see this as an opportunity for efficiency,” the province said in its update on Oct. 15. According to Health Canada, CWD was first discovered in 1967, while the disease was first detected in the province in a farmed elk in 1996 and in wild deer in 2000. The province launched mandatory CWD testing in select wildlife management zones for the 2025-26 hunting season. Hunters who harvested deer or elk in those select zones were required to submit the animal’s head for testing. Since 2000, CWD has been found in 63 of the province’s 83 wildlife management zones. Samples from mandatory testing zones that are submitted on or before Oct. 31 will still be processed. CWD dropoff kiosks will be closed Nov. 2.
