GAME COMMISSION OFFERS ADVICE TO HUNTERS HEADED OUT OF STATE
With thousands of Pennsylvania hunters heading off to hunt big game in other states and Canadian provinces, Pennsylvania Game Commission Executive Director Carl G. Roe reminds hunters that, in an effort to prevent the introduction of Chronic Wasting Disease (CWD) into the Commonwealth, the agency prohibits hunters from importing specific carcass parts from members of the deer family - including mule deer, elk and moose - from 14 states and two Canadian provinces.
Roe noted that this importation ban is a revised executive order signed into effect in May, and affects hunters heading to: Colorado, Illinois, Kansas, Michigan, Minnesota, Montana, Nebraska, New Mexico, New York (only from CWD containment area), Oklahoma, South Dakota, Utah, West Virginia (only from Hampshire County), Wisconsin and Wyoming; as well as the Canadian provinces of Alberta and Saskatchewan.
Roe emphasized that the new executive order prohibits hunters from bringing back the tissue described below from any cervid from these states or provinces, whether the animal was taken from the wild or from a captive, high-fence operation.
The specific carcass parts, where the CWD prions (the causative agent) concentrates in cervids, that cannot be brought back to Pennsylvania by hunters are: the head (including brain, tonsils, eyes and lymph nodes); spinal cord/backbone; spleen; skull plate with attached antlers, if visible brain or spinal cord tissue is present; cape, if visible brain or spinal cord tissue is present; upper canine teeth, if root structure or other soft tissue is present; any object or article containing visible brain or spinal cord tissue; unfinished taxidermy mounts; and brain-tanned hides.
Roe noted that the prohibition does not limit the importation of: meat, without the backbone; cleaned skull plate with attached antlers, if no visible brain or spinal cord tissue is present; tanned hide or raw hide with no visible brain or spinal cord tissue present; cape, if no visible brain or spinal cord tissue is present; upper canine teeth, if no root structure or other soft tissue is present; and finished taxidermy mounts.
For more information, please visit the Pennsylvania Game Commission - State Wildlife Management Agency website:
http://www.pgc.state.pa.us/pgc/cwp/view.asp?a=11&Q=177131