HARRISBURG, PA - Today, Pennsylvania’s wildlife faces a variety of threats. These threats often are related to both natural and human-caused factors. As the state agency responsible for managing Pennsylvania’s wildlife, the Pennsylvania Game Commission must mitigate these threats whenever possible.
Diseases like Chronic Wasting Disease (CWD), mange, and tuberculous have the potential to significantly affect wildlife populations. Though these diseases do spread naturally, their spread is increased significantly when wildlife is unnaturally concentrated.
When people feed wildlife, they escalate this concentration.
In recent years, the occurrence of both CWD in deer and mange in bears has increased. The Pennsylvania Game Commission takes the threat of wildlife diseases very seriously and must take appropriate steps to mitigate wildlife diseases and their spread. While this is not an easy problem to solve, it is serious and needs to be addressed.
A citizens advisory committee made up of major stakeholders recently assisted Game Commission personnel in looking at the problems associated with wildlife feeding and proposing possible solutions.
The Game Commission in coming weeks is hosting multiple open-house exhibits throughout the state and is encouraging the general public to stop by to comment and learn more about this issue. The open-house format allows visitors to casually view information about the problem and possible solutions. Agency staff will be on hand to answer questions.
Here are the dates, times, and locations of the events.
Thursday, July 18, 6 p.m. to 8 p.m., Game Commission Northcentral Region Office, 1566 South Route 44 Highway, Jersey Shore, PA 17740
Tuesday, July 23, 6 p.m. to 8 p.m., Game Commission Southeast Region Office, 253 Snyder Road, Reading, PA 19605
Wednesday, July 24, 6 p.m. to 8 p.m., Game Commission Northeast Region Office, 3917 Memorial Highway, Dallas, PA 18612
Tuesday, July 30, 6 p.m. to 8 p.m., Warren High School, 345 E. Fifth Ave., Warren, PA 16365
Wednesday, July 31, 6 p.m. to 8 p.m., Game Commission Southcentral Regional Office, 8627 William Penn Highway, Huntingdon, PA 16652
Wednesday, Aug. 7, 6 p.m. to 8 p.m., Delmont Fire Department, 2360 PA-66, Delmont, PA 15626
Thursday, Aug. 8, 6 p.m. to 8 p.m., Game Commission Northcentral Region Office, 1566 South Route 44 Highway, Jersey Shore, PA 17740
MEDIA CONTACT: Travis Lau - 717-705-6541
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