Press Release
Hunters who are travelling out-of-province to hunt moose, caribou, deer or elk can help protect Ontario from a fatal disease that affects these animals.
In Aug. 2010, Ontario introduced new regulations to help prevent the entry of chronic wasting disease into the province. The disease has never been found in wild animals in Ontario, but it has been detected in Alberta, Saskatchewan, and 18 American states.
As a preventive measure, hunters who want to bring deer, moose, elk, caribou or any other member of the deer family into Ontario may no longer possess certain high-risk carcass parts. These parts are considered high risk because they concentrate the infectious agent that may transmit the disease. (See below for details.)
The rules apply to all members of the deer family harvested in all other jurisdictions, even if the disease has not been detected in the area.
Provinces and states where chronic wasting disease has been detected have suffered significant social, economic and environmental impacts.
Chronic wasting disease is similar to “mad cow disease”, but there is currently no evidence that it can be transmitted to humans or to domestic livestock such as cattle.
horses and pigs.
For details about this regulation, see ontario.ca/cwd
If the disease were detected in Ontario, the costs to control it would be very significant. Eradicating the disease, once it is established in an area, may be impossible.
Ontario has also banned the possession and use of natural attractants containing bodily fluids (such as urine or gland oil) from any member of the deer family, since these attractants are one potential pathway for the spread of the disease. New requirements for transporting live captive white-tailed deer, American elk, moose and woodland caribou into Ontario are also in place.
Tips for out-of-province hunters
•Hunters are not allowed to possess high-risk carcass parts of deer, moose, elk, caribou or any other member of the deer family that were harvested out-of-province. High-risk carcass parts include the head, brain, eyes, tonsils, hooves, lymph nodes, spleen, mammary glands, entrails, internal organs or spinal column.
•Hunters can possess any parts not listed above, such as the meat and associated bones, except bones that are part of the spinal column. Antlers may be possessed, as long as they are separated from the skull and there is no tissue or skin attached to them.
•Butchering can be done (before returning to Ontario) by a professional butcher or the hunter, as long as all high-risk parts are removed. No special wrapping is required for transporting the meat into the province.
•The prohibition above does not apply to finished taxidermy mounts, tanned skin or canine teeth with no tissue attached.
•You may possess a hide or skin of the head, including the “cape,” if within five days of coming into Ontario you will deliver it to a tanner or taxidermist. All other tissue must be removed and it must be kept in a container or wrapped in a material that prohibits anything from escaping into the environment. (If all or portion of the hide or skin of the head is disposed of, it must be done at a waste disposal site authorized under the Environmental Protection Act, such as a municipal landfill.)
•Prohibited parts may be transported through Ontario to another jurisdiction in a manner that prohibits anything from escaping. The wrapped carcass or parts must be labelled to show the species, the place where they were acquired, and the name and address of the person who owns the parts.
For details about this regulation, see ontario.ca/cwd
