Regulations Appropriate to Manage CWD-Infected Deer Herds


HRONIC WASTING DISEASE


(CWD) was found in an intensively managed


By Richard Thorpe, Texas and Southwestern Cattle Raisers Association president


ISSUES POLICY C


Richard Thorpe, Texas and Southwestern Cattle Raisers Associa- tion president


white-tailed deer herd, a deer breeder operation, in Medina County in 2015, and was dis- covered in a free-ranging mule deer population in the Hueco Mountains in far West Texas in 2012. Texas Parks and Wildlife


Department’s (TPWD) test- ing — conducted since 2002


on more than 32,000 samples — indicates that CWD is not in the free-ranging white-tailed deer population. CWD is to deer what mad cow disease (bovine


spongiform encephalopathy or BSE) is to cattle. It is a transmissible disease that causes infected deer to weaken and die. Like the beef industry response to BSE in cattle, it


is reasonable to expect the wildlife management com- munity’s response to CWD in captive white-tailed deer herds to be aggressive, with the goals of containing the disease and protecting the white-tailed deer population. Texas and Southwestern Cattle Raisers Association


(TSCRA) leaders and members support TPWD efforts to manage and control the spread of this serious wildlife disease. We support the wildlife agency’s collabora- tion with Texas Animal Health Commission (TAHC) to establish proper testing protocols. We encourage the agencies to communicate these protocols and regulations to landowners, deer breeders and hunters so each interested party can participate in mitigating the spread of this disease. This issue is about wildlife and wildlife enthusiasts


of Texas. Nearly 1 million Texas hunters depend on our state’s 4.5 million white-tailed deer for recreation and


110 The Cattleman September 2016


food. Deer hunting in Texas provides an estimated $4 billion annual economic impact. Income from white- tailed deer hunting leases keeps rural lands intact and provides habitat for all wildlife. The safety of that resource is paramount. TPWD hosted signifi cant discussion among wild-


life and landowner groups to develop rules regulating deer breeder operations to mitigate the spread of CWD. TSCRA members and staff observed these discus-


sions and participated when it was appropriate. TPWD was inclusive and thorough in its discussion process, including members from the stakeholder groups that wanted to participate. TPWD is not an animal health agency, so it asked


for assistance from TAHC, the agency in charge of protecting the health of Texas livestock. Working together, TPWD and TAHC developed


protocols to control the movement of deer from in- fected herds to contain the spread of the disease and, it is hoped, to manage the disease through ante- and postmortem testing. If CWD were to get into the free-ranging deer popu-


lation, it is unlikely that we would be able to eradicate the disease. Texas is not alone in managing against CWD. Ac-


cording to TPWD, “The Wyoming Game and Fish De- partment has monitored an infected mule deer popu- lation in southeast Wyoming. In 2001, there were an estimated 14,393 mule deer and a CWD prevalence of 15 percent. Ten years later, the disease prevalence was 57 percent and the population was estimated at less than 7,500 deer.” Texas is the only state to allow deer from breeder


herds to be liberated into the wild and comingled with free-ranging deer. In many other states that have “shooting preserves” 100 percent of all deer harvested must be tested.


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