RANCHING Wildlife
Texas Parks and Wildlife Commission Adopts Amended Deer Movement Rules
After extensive public testimony, the Texas Parks and Wildlife Commission approved an amended set of regulations on June 20 for artifi cial movement of deer by permit as part of the state’s chronic wasting disease (CWD) management plan.
A DOPTED PROVISIONS ARE THE RESULT OF EXTENSIVE COL-
laboration between the Texas Parks and Wild- life Department (TPWD), Texas Animal Health
Commission (TAHC), the deer breeding community and landowners to address concerns over the future of permitted unnatural deer movement qualifi cations fol- lowing the discovery of CWD in 2015, while providing continued protection against the fatal neurological dis- ease for Texas’ 4 million free-ranging and captive deer. Among the provisions adopted by the commission
include a suite of options to attain artifi cial deer move- ment qualifi ed status through a multilevel system of ante-mortem, or live, and post-mortem deer testing for CWD.
Key changes to the rules include: • Establishing a minimum level of post-mortem test- ing in deer breeding facilities at 80 percent
• Providing an opportunity for all captive deer breed- ers to test-up to Transfer Category 1 (TC1) status through 50 percent ante-mortem testing of their en- tire herd (a proposed May 15, 2017, testing deadline was eliminated from the rules) and breeders may
choose their preferred ante-mortem testing means (rectal, lymph nodes, tonsillar etc.).
• Clarifi cation that the 5-year, 80 percent eligible mortality testing requirement to realize TC1 status may be obtained through testing a 5-year average of annual mortalities and deer breeders may use a 3:1 ratio to substitute live tests for post-mortem tests to meet required testing thresholds.
• Property owners may request to expand release sites, provided release site requirements apply to the expanded acreage.
• Elimination of testing requirements on Trap, Transfer and Transplant (Triple T) release sites. Details of CWD rule changes affecting specifi c ar-
tifi cial deer movement permits are available online at
tpwd.texas.gov/cwd. The rules take effect upon completion of program-
ming modifi cations to the Texas Wildlife Information Management System (TWIMS), but no later than Aug. 15, 2016, and apply to the movement of deer under TPWD permits, including Triple T, DMP (deer man- agement permit), TTP (trap, transport and process) and deer breeder.
82 The Cattleman August 2016
thecattlemanmagazine.com
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