Game farmer Bill Drury says the death of an elk he imported from Alberta earlier this month is unfortunate, but not unusual in the business.

Animals do die occasionally from the stress of the trip and being handled, a condition known as capture myopothy, and he suspects that's what killed the elk.

Capture myopothy, he said, is a fact of life when handling domestic and wild animals.

Drury said he has every confidence test results will show the animal was not infected with Johnnes or chronic wasting disease (CWD).

Before he left Whitehorse to pick up the animals, he was notified that tests on one of the 12 elk he was going to import came back positive for Johnnes, and the animal had to be put down.

The remaining 11 elk were picked up and transported to his ranch west of Whitehorse. The death of the one of the 11 elk was detected several days after its arrival, while the animals were being catalogued by officials with Environment Yukon.

Drury said he is working with Environment Yukon to ensure the remaining 10 elk at his Circle D Ranch on the Alaska Highway do not have any chance of contact with wild elk.

Arrangements were made last week to borrow an electric fence from the government to add to his single game fence. That has created a system of double fencing as extra insurance against contact with wild animals, he told the Star last week.

And he's agreed to slaughter the animals within 45 days of their arrival, or more quickly than he might have otherwise, he said.

But Drury still fears he could now be facing a serious and negative image problem - fuelled by Yukoners already strenuously opposed to him importing elk - which could affect his farm business.

"I mean, it could just go really sour."

Drury volunteered an interview last week before hitting the road to pick up a load of cattle in B.C., two days before last Friday's announced that territorial cabinet was implementing a moratorium on any further import of game farm animals (see story below).

Drury explained last Wednesday he came forward because he wanted to make sure his comments were available before he left, in case news of the incident spread while he was away.

New Yukon regulations have opened up opportunities to sell game farm meat to commercial retailers and restaurants, Drury noted.

He has, for instance, a contract to supply two local restaurants with elk.

But concern was expressed recently by the Yukon Fish and Game Association after some of its members recently learned that Drury was issued a permit to import eight elk last spring.

The transportation of game farm elk is blamed for the spread of the deadly chronic wasting disease in the Prairie provinces where provincial authorities have culled tens of thousands of wild deer over the years to try to control the disease.

Chronic wasting disease, and the transportation of game farm animals like elk, have been among the top concerns for the Canadian Wildlife Federation for years, and remain so. The federation, of which the Yukon Fish and Game Association is a member, is having its annual general meeting here next month.

Drury explained he went through the full and proper process of securing an Alberta export permit for 12 elk, which included all the required blood tests and veterinary inspections.

He fulfilled the requirements for his permit for transportation through B.C., and the import permit from Environment Yukon.

After receiving the Yukon import permit, he was advised by the phone call from Alberta that tests taken from one of the 12 elk returned a positive result for Johnnes.

Drury said the Alberta veterinarian assured him he was attempting to notify Yukon officials of the situation, and had left messages. Then he left to pick up the remaining 11 elk.

After arriving home two weeks ago Monday, and dealing with muddy farm conditions and stuck vehicles, they were finally able to unload the animals into an isolated quarantied paddock, as required.

When he was contacted two days later by Environment officials, Drury indicated the animals had arrived, and that officials were welcome to visit the paddock and record the ear tag numbers for each animal.

The elk, he said, are not always easily visible, as they like to duck behind vegetation, so recording their presence can take some time.

From a vehicle tour of the paddock, he and wildlife technicians recorded six of the 11 animals.

The dead elk was discovered when technician Phil Merchant and a fellow Environment Yukon official returned later in an attempt to record the remaining five elk.

Merchant and Drury agree the animal had likely been dead for several days.

Drury suspects it died of capture myopothy shortly after being unloaded five or six days earlier.

Drury said that because of the passage of time before the dead animal was noticed, a necropsy - an animal autopsy - to determine the cause of death was no longer an option.

He was advised by an Alberta vet he could still take a section of the brain stem to send out for a CWD test, which was done earlier this week. Results usually take two weeks.

The animal does not have CWD, he insisted, adding it came from a farm that has been declared CWD-free.

Drury pointed out tests for Johnnes can show positive results quickly, as was the case with the 12th elk he was suppose to pick up. But it can also take six weeks to be certain, or another three more weeks in the case of the 11 elk he imported.

There were no signs the imported elk that died on his farm was anything but healthy, he said.

In any case, Drury said, Johnnes is a fairly common disease in the domestic cattle industry, and is akin to Chrone's disease in humans.

Meat from animals infected with Johnnes can still be sold, he said.

"It is a disease that is not a problem in the rest of the world," he said. "It is a problem in the Yukon.

"Rightfully and respectfully, our Department of Environment, no doubt, is a zealous group and their mandate is to protect wildlife.

"This issue is not going to affect wildlife," Drury said. "But the public perception is certainly going to affect Bill."

Environment Yukon, he suggested before Friday's cabinet announcement was made, is not beyond influence from the public.

Before leaving last Wednesay, he wondered if the government would use the situation "to pounce on us with both feet."

John Russell, a senior enforcement officer with Environment Yukon, said Friday officers were looking into the matter, so he was not able to comment at length.

There are a number of conditions attached to import permits, including the requirement to report to authorities upon arrival in the Yukon, he said.

The wildlife technician said his office has checked but can find no message from an Alberta veterinarian indicating tests on one of the 12 elk came back positive for Johnnes, and that the animal was put down.

Fear of the spread of Johnnes prompted Environment Yukon to destroy more than 50 domestic reindeer on the Mayo Road in May 2005, a decision which caused great controversy.