The Ontario government is asking hunters in Chatham-Kent and Windsor, along with parts of Central Ontario, to submit samples from harvested white-tailed deer as part of its Chronic Wasting Disease (CWD) surveillance program. The initiative supports the province’s efforts to prevent the spread of the disease through monitoring and early detection.
CWD is a fatal and untreatable brain disease that affects members of the deer family, including white-tailed deer, elk, moose and caribou. While the disease has not been detected in Ontario wildlife, it has been found in all five U.S. states bordering the province, as well as in British Columbia, Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba and Québec.
This fall, the Ministry of Natural Resources and Forestry will focus surveillance on two regions: Southwestern Ontario, from Windsor to Chatham-Kent, in Wildlife Management Units (WMUs) 94A and 94B; and Central Ontario, from Sharbot Lake to Midland, in WMUs 56, 60, 62, 75, 76A, 76B and 76E.
During hunting season, ministry wildlife technicians will canvass these areas and ask hunters for permission to collect small tissue samples from deer heads for testing. Officials said the process will not interfere with processing the harvest, consuming the meat or mounting the head.
Hunters are also encouraged to take deer heads, preferably within a few days of harvest, to an MNR freezer depot. Depots will be open from early October to mid-December. Those submitting a head are asked to provide contact information along with the date and general location of the harvest. Test results will be available at ontario.ca/CWD.
Roadkill deer suitable for testing can be reported to the ministry’s Wildlife Health Information Line at 1-888-574-6656 or by email at CWD@ontario.ca.
Members of the public are also asked to report deer, elk, moose or caribou showing symptoms of CWD, including severe weight loss, tremors, lack of coordination or unusual behaviour. Reports can be made to the Canadian Wildlife Health Cooperative at 1-866-673-4781, the ministry’s Wildlife Health Information Line, or by emailing CWD@ontario.ca.
To encourage participation, the first 500 hunters who provide a sample in each surveillance area will receive a collectible crest. Deer under one year old will not be tested because CWD is less likely to be detected in younger animals.
Since surveillance began, more than 16,000 hunter-harvested white-tailed deer have been tested in Ontario, with no cases detected. The province also released a CWD Prevention and Response Plan in December 2019 to reduce the risk of the disease entering or spreading within Ontario.
For more information on how to help protect Ontario’s deer population, visit ontario.ca/CWD or email CWD@ontario.ca.
