Missouri Code of State Regulations
Title 3 - DEPARTMENT OF CONSERVATION
Division 10 - Conservation Commission
Chapter 9 - Wildlife Code: Confined Wildlife: Privileges, Permits, Standards
Section 3 CSR 10-9.220 - Wildlife Confinement Standards

Current through Register Vol. 49, No. 18, September 16, 2024

PURPOSE: These amendments require any person holding wildlife in confinement under permit to report all wildlife escapes immediately to a conservation agent, changes the term "captive" to "confined" for most references to wildlife, and modifies confinement standards for certain species of wildlife held in confinement. It also reflects the creation of a Class III Wildlife Breeder Permit for certain cervids currently held under Class I and II Wildlife Breeder Permits. Finally, the amendments remove circuses, bona fide research facilities, and fur farms from the current exemption for compliance with confinement standards.

This amendment provides for clarification of the rule with respect to wildlife. The Conservation Commission has constitutional authority over all bird, fish, game, forestry, and wildlife resources of the state.

Chronic Wasting Disease (CWD) is a disease that infects deer and other members of the deer family. It is transmitted by prions, which are abnormal proteins that attack the nervous system, and is always fatal to the infected animal. CWD is spread both directly from deer to deer and indirectly to deer from infected soil and other surfaces. CWD prions accumulate in the brain, spinal cord, eyes, spleen, and lymph nodes of infected animals. Once well established in an area, CWD is impossible to eradicate. States with CWD must focus on limiting the spread of the disease and preventing its introduction to new areas. CWD could substantially reduce infected cervid populations by lowering adult survival rates and destabilizing long-term population dynamics.

Infectious diseases such as CWD threaten Missouri's deer herd, Missouri's nearly five hundred and twenty thousand (520,000) deer hunters, millions of wildlife watchers, thousands of landowners, twelve thousand (12,000) Missouri jobs, and hundreds of businesses and communities that depend on the approximately one (1) billion dollars boost in economic activity related to deer hunting and watching.

There is currently no approved live animal test for CWD, tests can only be performed on dead animals. Additionally, there is a lag-time between infection and detection based on current methods. Therefore, it is not possible to determine the disease status of individual animals. The current federal CWD-herd certification program is simply a means of reducing risk by monitoring a herd by testing for disease in animals from a herd that die. It does not indicate a disease-free status for any herd; it only establishes a level of risk associated with each particular herd. Consequently, it is crucial to reduce the risk of infection and spreading of the disease. This regulation is intended to reduce the spread of CWD and other diseases by limiting deer to deer contact through more effective barriers between captive and free-ranging deer.

The first two (2) cases of CWD in Missouri were found in 2010 and 2011 at two (2) private big-game hunting preserves in Linn and Macon counties. Following those discoveries, the first two (2) cases of CWD in free-ranging deer were confirmed in 2012 in northwest Macon County. To date, Missouri's confirmed cases of CWD total eleven ( 11) in captive deer from the private hunting preserves and ten (10) in free-ranging deer harvested in Macon County.

Movement of animals between captive facilities elevates the risk of further spreading the disease to new areas of the state. Initial reports of CWD outbreaks in numerous states, including Missouri, have occurred at captive breeding sites. In the past nine (9) years, the number of states with confirmed CWD in free-ranging deer and elk has nearly doubled from eight (8) to fifteen (15). In captive herds, CWD has expanded from twenty-seven (27) to thirty-nine (39) in captive elk herds and from two (2) to seventeen (17) in captive deer herds. Once CWD has been identified in a state, the documentation of CWD in both captive and free-ranging animals indicates that disease transmission has occurred between those groups of animals.

Current fencing standards are not sufficient to eliminate the risk of captive cervid escapes from captive facilities or the possibility of deer to deer contact through the fence. Approximately one hundred fifty (150) escaped cervids have been reported by breeding and big game hunting preserve facilities to the Missouri Department of Conservation over the last three (3) years. Published research from Michigan suggests that double fencing will reduce direct contact between free-ranging and captive cervids via escapes and nose to nose contact, and will likely reduce risk of transmission through indirect routes (VerCauteren, Kurt C., et al. 2007. Fence-Line Contact Between Wild and Farmed White-Tailed Deer in Michigan: Potential for Disease Transmission. The Journal of Wildlife Management 71:1603-1606).

The proposed amendment exempts facilities currently permitted by the department to hold cervids from the new fencing standards. A newly permitted facility or an existing facility permitted by the department to hold cervids which expands the current perimeter fence of that facility will be required to comply with the new fencing standards. The department listened to comments from breeders during public meetings in 2013 that the fencing standards (double fencing with the perimeter fence at ten (10) feet) would be too onerous for existing facilities. The proposed amendment represents a compromise that still provides risk management for the future, while considering the burden on current facilitates.

Class I and Class II Wildlife Breeder Permits are also used by auction houses and other businesses that serve as "brokers" for cervids that are bought and sold. Many animals may move through facilities owned by these businesses and may be held in confined areas that have recently held animals from herds of variable disease status. Existing Wildlife Breeder Permit regulations were not designed to address such operations and may not adequately describe the conditions under which these businesses should be operated.