Alberta Environment and Parks (AEP), in partnership with Canada's Department of National Defence, has provided elk hunting opportunities at Canadian Forces Base Suffield (CFB Suffield) in southeastern Alberta.
- Hunts surrounding the base for the 2022-23 seasons began on September 1, 2022, and will continue until January 30, 2023.
- 100 antlered elk licences will be issued.
- 200 antlerless elk licences will be issued.
- Hunts within the base will begin on October 26, 2022 and will continue until January 28, 2023.
- 100 antlered elk licences will be issued.
- 500 antlerless elk licences will be issued. Please note that Alberta Environment and Parks does not control access restrictions to CFB Suffield. These decisions are made in the interest of public safety. Any concerns regarding this decision can be directed to CFB Suffield
For further information on the CFB Suffield Elk hunt, see:
Suffield Elk and Bovine Tuberculosis
Concerns have been raised about the possibility of bovine tuberculosis in the large population of elk associated with Canadian Forces Base Suffield (CFB Suffield).
Alberta's Chronic Wasting Disease program, examines the lymph nodes of submitted wildlife. Through this program we are able to passively monitor for bovine tuberculosis. We have not seen abnormalities that would suggest that bTB is in
Suffield elk.
The original elk on CFB Suffield were translocated from Elk Island National Park in the late 1990s and all animals relocated from the park were tested for bovine tuberculosis and found to be disease free.
Elk Island National Park has implemented a continuous bovine tuberculosis surveillance program since the 1970s, and bovine tuberculosis has not been detected in the park since the early 1980s (detection in a wood bison that came to Elk
Island National Park from Wood Buffalo National Park in the mid 1960s).
Bovine tuberculosis does occur sporadically in cattle (last case prior to the current finding was in cattle in British Columbia in 2011) and Canada’s national surveillance program generally finds infected cattle before the infection spreads.
Investigations are focused firstly on the infected cattle and repercussions to the livestock industry, but Environment and Parks' wildlife disease experts are engaged to understand the finding and assess the risk, which is typically minimal.
Bovine TB can infect humans but does not readily transfer to people. The risk of infection in wild game is very low. To date, there is no evidence of bovine tuberculosis in elk in Alberta.
Precautions hunters can take with their harvest are available at:
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Updated: Oct 5, 2022