Indiana traceback to PA CWD-escapee

this was sent out by our DNR today. This deer escaped in the spring and I looked through all of the DNR bulletins since the first of March and couldn't find a prior alert from them. The herd was not accredited and any escapees are to be harvested that are not from an accredited herd. Accredited escapees are to be returned to their pen if at all possible.

As far as I see it this gives a hunter the green light to harvest ANY deer with a yellow tag. This deer shouldn't even have a yellow IN 764 tag because it came from PA, unless it was a replacement tag.







Indiana DNR Fish & Wildlife



DNR seeks harvest, reporting of ear-tagged deer



The Department of Natural Resources is advising hunters to be on the lookout for ear-tagged deer in Jackson County and the neighboring counties of Bartholomew, Jennings and Scott, and to harvest them if possible.



Hunters who harvest an ear-tagged deer in these counties or anywhere else in Indiana are asked to immediately call DNR Law Enforcement at (812) 837-9536. Anyone who strikes and kills an ear-tagged deer with a vehicle is asked to call the same number.



The focus on the four-county area is due to farm-raised deer that escaped from a captive cervid facility whose owner is cooperating with DNR. The deer may have been exposed to chronic wasting disease at a captive facility in another state before being transferred to Indiana . The DNR and the Indiana Board of Animal Health need to obtain the escaped ear-tagged deer to conduct disease testing.



Of particular interest are any deer with a yellow ear tag bearing the prefix IN 764 followed by another four numbers or any deer with a yellow ear tag and two numbers on it.



DNR staff will assist in transporting the deer carcass to Purdue University for testing at the Animal Disease Diagnostic Laboratory.



DNR will replace the hunter’s license at no cost.



For more information: Phil Bloom, DNR Communications, (317) 502-1683, [email protected].







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The deer may have been exposed to chronic wasting disease at a captive facility in another state before being transferred to Indiana

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Oh come on!!!! Why can't they just mention they would like the deer shot, and they will replace the liscense, WHY DO they have to give the public the impression that these are Disease carrying sick deer. We all know these animals will not test positive!! But know the public can easily twist this story into believing these are CWD infested Escapees. The public has another reason to hate us for raising deer, it just never ends.

who is 764???? Send me a PM please....

Crazy.....just crazy .......

Not a good time for this to happen. Like there ever is!!! It must be a deer that was in contact with the Pa positive. I guess with that write up im not sure what the deal is. I can tell you one thing. Every hunting site across the country will be spewing all kinds of stuff about this one. It still comes back to us to make sure our deer stay inside our fences!! Hard to say not knowing if the fence was cut or broke some way or a gate was left open but it still hurts the industry as a whole when our deer get out but at this point in time it will hurt much more!

What Farm in Indiana did the escape happen at ??????



Not good NEWS !!!!

Yes I had deer out, about 34 of them. Someone cut the locks on my gates in winter when we were gone. Being depending on food when we got home we opened every door and called out food was served just at dusk. We watched deer come into the pen. When they stopped we drove up the drive and shut all the doors. All 34 deer returned. The problem was as required by law I had told the DNR. Even though they were all back when the DNR put it out to the public they did it as an escape indicating how poor we monitored our deer pens. Like all things the DNR will twist it so the deer farmer looks bad to the public.

Deer hunters in four southeastern Indiana counties have been given an unusual directive by state wildlife officials: If you see a deer with a yellow tag in its ear, kill it.



And call a biologist.



The deer, say Department of Natural Resources officials, may be infected with chronic wasting disease.



The edict comes after 20 deer escaped this spring from a Jackson County farm where trophy bucks with huge antlers are bred and sold to fenced-in, private hunting preserves. Seven of the deer remain unaccounted for.



Wildlife officials worry about chronic wasting disease spreading here, devastating what is currently a thriving deer population of 500,000 to 1 million animals.



The disease, which is causing havoc in several states, including Wisconsin, hasn't yet made its way to Indiana. Officials don't think it poses a risk to humans or other livestock.



DNR spokesman Phil Bloom said the escape highlights a larger issue.



"This case," he said, "underscores the concern many have about how the commercialization of wildlife and interstate trafficking in wildlife presents a Pandora's box, with the potential spread of a deadly disease that does have some wide-ranging consequences."



In this case, Bloom said, biologists are hoping those consequences can be minimized with some help from hunters -- and motorists unlucky enough to hit and kill one of the tagged deer.



The alert not only includes Jackson County, where the release occurred, but also neighboring Bartholomew, Jennings and Scott counties. Licensed hunters and motorists who kill tagged deer are urged to immediately call (812) 837-9536.



The DNR and the Indiana Board of Animal Health will retrieve the carcass so it can be tested for the disease.



Bloom said of particular interest are any deer with a yellow ear tag and two numbers on it, or any deer with a tag bearing the prefix "IN 764" followed by another four numbers.



Hunters who shoot one of the deer will be issued a new license free of charge.



DNR officials are concerned because a Pennsylvania farm -- where chronic wasting disease was detected -- sold 10 animals to farms in Indiana over the past three years. Bloom said two does were sold to farms in Noble and Whitley counties; the rest went to a farm in Jackson County.



Some of the Jackson County deer were moved to a fourth facility in Jackson County, where the escape happened.



Shawn Hanley, president of the Indiana Deer and Elk Farmers' Association, said a storm caused a tree to fall on the farm's fence. A Pennsylvania buck remains on the loose.



"We have been in contact with the DNR and with the (Indiana Board of Animal Health), and will cooperate fully with attempts to recover the lost animal," Hanley said in an email.



Citing the ongoing investigation, Bloom declined to release the name of the farms. So did Douglas Metcalf, chief of staff for the Board of Animal Health.



Meanwhile, Metcalf said, each of the four farms is under quarantine, and the animals are being tested for the disease.



Of the 20 deer that got loose, Bloom said, 11 were immediately recaptured, one was hit by a car and a bow hunter shot another this fall.



Rick D. Miller, the owner of the 2.5 Karat Game Ranch in nearby Bartholomew County, says he's outraged by what happened. The farm where the deer escaped, he said, isn't one of the 385 Indiana deer farms that voluntarily allow officials to test their herds for the disease.



"We don't want these crazy things to happen," said Miller, a former president of the Indiana Deer and Elk Farmers' Association.



Miller said Indiana's $50 million-a-year game-farming industry has a lot to lose if the disease spreads. And so does he.



At any given time, Miller says, he keeps between two dozen and 60 elk and white-tail deer on his farm. He collects deer urine to sell. Some hunters buy bottles of the urine as a deer attractant. Big "shooter" bucks can be sold to captive hunt facilities for $1,500 to $2,500.

Escaped deer pose risk of spreading disease in Indiana

State wildlife officials fear the missing animals could have been exposed to fatal ailment







Breeding stock can sell for $1,000 to $250,000, depending on the size and genetics of the buck.



In Indiana, at least, the future of farmers who sell to local game clubs remains unclear. In 2006, the DNR passed rules banning high-fence hunting because the facilities were deemed unsporting and a potential disease risk. The clubs sued in response.



A judge issued an injunction prohibiting a ban, leaving the facilities in business for the time being.



Bloom of the DNR said the legal challenges are pending.



Follow Star reporter Ryan Sabalow at twitter.com/RyanSabalow. Call him at (317) 444-6179.

Interesting how the DNR always slants the article. If the disease isn't in Indiana yet only means they just haven't looked hard enough to find it. They make it sound like these animals are diseased. They need to state that these only need to be monitored.



I got an interesting phone call last week from the head vet. at the Minnesota Zoo. He invited me up to look over the facility where they house the wild cervid. They are in the process of bringing in wild moose and exotic cervid for display. He said they were under a special status where they didn't have to bring in tested animals. These animals wouldn't qualify for health papers or any kind of status. Interesting how state agencies can't live under there own rules. Yet they expect us to, and blame us for spreading diseases.

I talked with INBOAH today, as far as Indiana is concerned, we can still sell and ship deer, the wording in that press release from the DNR is not cool.



The only issue is that if you are shipping deer to say...PA for AI or live covers.....you might not be able to bring them back into Indiana.



There are NO POSITIVE CWD deer in Indiana found as of today...plain and simple!

Todd.....you are right and take advantage while you can...because today you are CWD free and the next day you won't be...it's cost me thousands of dollars in sales.......then to add salt to the wound I lose my best breeder buck to tb testing.......unfortunately it will be found eventually where ever they are looking for it........I hope it's never found anywhere else...but .......we all know it will be.....

Hang in there Dennis, you still have a great market within your state, and if/when the feds get thier act straight, we can go to a simple "perimeter" around infected areas of what ever they want to find instead of closing down an entire state!

Is there any new news on this deer?

have not heard a word

I don't think it is likely since the DNR waited so long to tell the public it was out

could have died of ehd this year