Prevent chronic wasting disease

Overview

Chronic Wasting Disease (CWD) is a infectious disease in cervids caused by highly contagious abnormal proteins called prions, which accumulate in the brain and other tissues leading to death. While CWD has not been found in Ontario wildlife, it has been detected in all Canadian provinces and U.S. states bordering the province. This presents a real and immediate threat of CWD spreading into Ontario through:

• natural wildlife migration
• importing live deer and other cervids (members of the deer family including white-tailed deer, elk, moose and caribou)
• importing cervid parts or other materials (such as natural attractants or lures made with cervid urine and feed from CWD infected areas)

Our best defense is to keep CWD out of Ontario. To prevent the spread, we regulate and control the use and movement of potentially infected cervids, parts and other materials.

What to do if you hunt a cervid outside Ontario and it tests positive for CWD

If you have hunted a cervid out of province and are notified that the animal has tested positive for CWD you must:

• let us know by calling or emailing your local ministry work centre
• dispose of the parts according to the ministry’s direction

We will work with you to ensure the infected material is handled safely and destroyed to avoid any potential risk of contamination.

Do not feed deer and other cervids

Feeding deer and other cervids can:

• cause them to gather in large numbers, making them more vulnerable to predators, increasing aggression between animals and increasing transmission of parasites and diseases like CWD
• increase human-wildlife conflict, such as deer-vehicle collisions, aggression toward people and pets and dependency on humans for food
• cause serious health problems when deer eat large quantities of grain, corn or pellet feeds

Learn more about how feeding wild animals does more harm than good.

Deer are naturally adapted to survive winter using stored fat reserves, restricting activity levels, and reducing their feeding. The best way to help deer populations thrive is by managing your land to improve natural deer habitat. If you have deer wintering on your property, you can help the deer by creating trails and by cutting the leaves, twigs and buds of woody plants that deer eat that would otherwise be out of reach.

Using attractants and lures

Use only artificial or plant-based attractants and lures.

Attractants or lures made from cervid parts may contain infectious material that could introduce CWD to Ontario.

Products that contain or say they contain the faeces, urine, blood, gland oil, saliva or other bodily fluids of a cervid are illegal to have and use in Ontario for any purpose. There are no exceptions.

Contact your local ministry work centre for more information.

Importing cervid parts from outside of Ontario (including hunted game)

Only the following parts of a cervid that died outside of Ontario may be imported or possessed in Ontario:

• butchered, deboned and packaged meat
• antlers or a cleaned skull cap with antlers attached
• tanned skin (hides and capes)
• finished taxidermy mounts

It is illegal to import any other cervid body parts into Ontario, including a carcass. These rules apply to all cervids which comprise more than 37 species.

All imported parts must be clean of all other tissue and labelled with the:

• species name
• name and address of the owner
• location where the imported parts came from

Any unwanted parts must be disposed of at a facility authorized to receive animal waste or parts.

It is illegal to knowingly import any part of a cervid that tested positive for CWD. Learn more about what to do if you discover that you have unintentionally imported CWD-positive material.

Transporting cervid parts through Ontario

Transporting any part of a cervid that died outside of Ontario through the province is only allowed when all these conditions are met:

• the parts are temporarily in transit enroute to another province or state
• all parts are kept in a sealed container from which nothing can escape
• the sealed container is labelled with the species, name and address of the owner
• the sealed container is labelled with the location where the cervid parts came from

It is illegal to knowingly transport any part of a cervid that tested positive for CWD within Ontario.

Importing and moving live cervids

The import of all species of live captive cervids into Ontario is prohibited, unless authorized by a ministry-issued permit. This includes importing cervids from all other Canadian provinces, territories and other countries. This also includes the movement of live captive cervids transiting through Ontario to another destination.

The transportation of any live captive cervids between points within Ontario is also prohibited unless authorized by a ministry-issued permit.

Permits are only issued when specific requirements are met to reduce the risk of introducing CWD to Ontario’s wild cervid populations.

Learn about applying for a permit to import or move live captive cervids.

Reporting escaped captive cervids

Escaped cervids pose a risk of spreading CWD and other diseases.

Report the escape or unauthorized release of any captive cervid immediately to the local ministry work centre. The animal should be captured or humanely euthanized as soon as possible.