Texas rule targets movement of breeder deer

The Texas Parks and Wildlife Department has adopted an emergency rule implementing additional movement and testing restrictions for white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus) in deer-breeding facilities. The rule comes in response to continued positive detections of chronic wasting disease in these facilities. Fourteen counties have had positive detections since March 2021, including nine deer-breeding facilities in 2023.

“Since 2021, we have seen an increase in CWD detections from breeder deer at an unprecedented rate,” said TPWD Wildlife Division Director John Silovsky, in a press release. “It’s our hope that these emergency rules will strengthen our surveillance and reduce the number of CWD-positive detections across the state.”

This emergency order requires all breeder deer to be live-tested for CWD before moving to another facility or release site. It also restricts the removal of identification tags. The 120-day temporary order went into effect July 24 and may be extended an additional 60 days. CWD is a fatal prion disease that can spread between captive and wild populations of deer and other cervids.

Read more from Texas Parks and Wildlife.