Derek Neary
Northern News Services

FORT SIMPSON (Jul 17/98) - The Department of Wildlife is seeking help from the public to keep bovine tuberculosis and bovine brucellosis from spreading to bison in the Mackenzie region.

A "bison control area," is continuing to be monitored to act as a buffer zone so infected bison from the Wood Buffalo area don't stray into the Mackenzie region.

The controlled area, which was established in 1987, stretches from south of the Mackenzie River, west to the Trout River, across northern Alberta to the western boundary of Wood Buffalo National Park and up to the south shore of Great Slave Lake.

"There's concern that diseased animals, either from the Slave River lowlands or Wood Buffalo National Park will come into direct contact with animals from the Mackenzie herd (around Fort Providence) or possibly even the Nahanni and Liard area," explained John Nishi, bison biologist for the GNWT's Department of Wildlife.

The number of non-infected bison stands in the range of 1,900, he estimated, and no incidence of either disease has yet been found among them.

The diseases primarily affect cattle and were introduced in the 1920s, according to Nishi. The symptoms of bovine tuberculosis, which can be fatal in serious cases, include small, pus-filled nodules on the lungs and ribcage that impair their ability to breath. It's transferred through close contact between the animals, said Nishi.

"Indirectly, it predisposes (bison) to predation... being killed by wolves," he said.

Bovine brucellosis often results in the loss of the calf in pregnant females, Nishi said. Any animals in the vicinity that inhale the bacteria contained in the placental fluid are also at risk of infection.

The notion of destroying the infected animals was rejected through a 1990 environmental assessment involving community input, he said.

He also noted that the bison-free zone is easier to monitor in the winter when tracks can regularly be observed in the snow. For the summer period, motorists who see bison in the controlled area (i.e. Fort Simpson to Hay River) are being asked to contact the nearest renewable resource officer.

The most recent effort to control the diseases comes by way of an antibiotic therapy program for calves.

"So far it's met with fairly good success," Nishi said, adding that the next generation of bison will indicate exactly how successful the effort has been.