by John Jefferson

I get tired writing about this subject; you may tire just reading about it. It’s not as interesting as some of my subjects, but chronic wasting disease (CWD) is spreading. More action is proposed to slow its spread.

Many might feel this doesn’t apply to them, but in a way, it’s a threat to everyone in Texas.

CWD is an incurable disease affecting deer and elk. There is no known cure. Infected animals appear healthy for years before symptoms appear. Then, it’s too late. Deer die unobserved in the wild — their remains quickly removed by scavenging animals.

Most of what we know is what wildlife biologists and scientists at the Texas Animal Health Commission have learned through testing. Much of that has happened in breeder pens where breeders are required to report and test dead deer. The first case of CWD in Texas white-tailed deer was found in a Medina County breeding facility. CWD was also detected in a free-ranging white-tailed deer in Medina County in 2017. It is usually passed by mouth between deer and can remain in soil indefinitely.

TPWD established Containment Zones and Surveillance Zones to regulate moving possibly infected deer in Texas. They were passed to reduce the chances of spreading CWD and increasing the chances of detecting and containing CWD in areas where it might be present.

I thought when the TPWD Commission curtailed importing whitetails from out of state – especially from states already known to have CWD-infected deer — that this should put the quietus on CWD. I must have been dreaming, since I don’t smoke.

At the risk of painting with too broad a brush, some breeders ignored the rules and brought in out of state deer. One even agreed to furnish deer with northern genes to the county game warden who had grown a beard, dressed like a rancher instead of a game warden, and played like he was a landowner wanting to improve the deer on his ranch. Others defied the rules, too. Some cases resulted in entire breeding stock being destroyed.

Let me say quickly before my phone starts ringing that many breeders complied, whether they liked it or not.

I CAN say that deer breeders opposed most rules from the beginning of CWD detection in Texas. This threatened a significant natural resource with which Texas is blessed – our abundant white-tailed deer. They’re the envy of most of the nation.

Many Texans make their living off deer hunting. Countless small communities depend upon the economic boost they receive each autumn from hunting. Landowners pay their taxes and living expenses from hunting fees – especially in drought years when livestock markets don’t offset feed costs. White-tailed deer are too precious to go unprotected.

The TPWD proposals being considered on August 24-25 include:

Extending containment Zone Three in Bandera, Medina, and Uvalde counties;

Creating a surveillance zone in Duval, Jim Wells, Live Oak and McMullen counties;

Creating a containment zone in Kimble County.

More information is available on the TPWD website.

JJ