INGLIS, Man. – Ray Armbruster has lived through the nightmare of having
a cattle herd infected with bovine tuberculosis.
Five years ago, the disease was found in the herd that he and his
father owned at Rossburn, Man.
It was a death sentence for the cattle. They were all slaughtered and
the farm was placed under quarantine.
Armbruster doesn’t care to talk much about the events of those dark
days. If he could put those memories behind him, he would.
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But playing through his mind is the question of whether he might again
have to go through the same agonizing experience.
He lives in the shadow of Riding Mountain National Park, a wildlife
preserve in western Manitoba where wild elk are known to be a reservoir
for the disease that caused him so much grief five years ago.
It’s believed that bovine TB can be passed between cattle and elk.
“Worrisome” is how he describes the threat of another tuberculosis
infection in the area’s cattle herds.
“Complex” is how he describes the tenuous balance that has been struck
to preserve the wild elk population while trying to protect farmers’
interests.
Armbruster has an idea that he thinks could alleviate the risk to
cattle producers. But his idea needs to be conveyed in hushed tones.
There’s a delicate balance at stake.
Loud pronouncements might cause that balance to shift, and maybe not in
the direction that he would like.
He thinks the park’s wild elk population should be reduced.
He reasons that a lower elk population of mostly younger animals would
be less likely to harbour TB. The disease might even be eliminated.
Then the park’s wild elk herd could be allowed to grow again, but with
management to prevent overcrowding, which forces animals to fan out
onto farmland in search of food.
He thinks rejuvenating park habitat would also entice elk to stay in
the park boundaries.
Armbruster shares his ideas in a quiet corner of the Inglis community
hall, away from the din of a meeting where cattle producers are meeting
with a national park official and animal health officials to talk about
TB.
He said he doesn’t want the wild elk herd to completely disappear,
although some producers in the area are less moderate. He appreciates
the animals’ intrinsic value to the area.
But without a harder line of action than is now being taken, Armbruster
questions whether the threat of TB can be eliminated from the area.
At the same time, he knows why that path might never be taken. Killing
elk to reduce the herd could kindle the spark that ignites a public
outcry, even if the killing was done through controlled hunting.
“Society doesn’t have the stomach to take the strong steps to really
deal with this,” said Armbruster.
“It could come down to a choice: the livestock producers or the
wildlife.”
Armbruster cannot even contemplate what it would be like to leave his
cattle farm behind. He hopes it doesn’t come to that.
In the meantime, the threat of tuberculosis lingers like a cloud over
his head, and he knows it won’t go away by ignoring it.
“We did that for too long.”
