The mule deer’s most urgent threat is Chronic Wasting Disease (CWD), a transmissible spongiform encephalopathy (TSE), but they are also threatened by high predator populations, competition with livestock grazing, and human-related habitat alterations.
Today the most urgent threat to wild mule deer is the spread of Chronic Wasting Disease (CWD), a transmissible spongiform encephalopathy (TSE). Currently, CWD is more prominent at the local or regional level. CWD has currently been diagnosed in mule deer in the Rocky Mountains region of the United States and other mid-western states.
Other threats include: high predator populations (including feral dogs), competition with livestock grazing, human habitat alterations, and other anthropogenic forces.
• Image | © Tony’s Takes, Some Rights Reserved (CC BY-NC-ND 2.0)
• Sources | (Sanchez-Rojas & Gallina, 2016)
