CWD count now 19; zones grow closer

The two latest confirmed cases of chronic wasting disease in Mississippi’s free-ranging deer herd brings the total to 19, causing the North CWD Management Zone to expand south.

Two does, one each from Tallahatchie and Panola counties, were recently added to the list of confirmed cases. Because the Mississippi Department of Wildlife, Fisheries and Parks’ CWD Response Plan impacts areas within 25 miles of a confirmed case, the North Zone grew, adding Sunflower, Leflore and Carroll to a list of 19 other counties affected. Added to three counties in the original Issaquena Zone, Mississippi now has parts or all of 22 counties in CWD Management Zones.

With the North Zone expanding to the south, only three counties — Humphreys, Holmes and Yazoo — keep the two zones separate.

Within the CWD zones, it is illegal to:

  • Supplementally feed wildlife;
  • Establish new mineral sites or add supplements to existing sites;
  • Trap wild hogs without a permit from MDWFP;
  • Remove certain portions of cervid carcasses from the zone. Only cut/wrapped meat; deboned meat; hides with no head attached; finished taxidermy; antlers with no tissue attached; cleaned skull plates with no brain tissue; and cleaned skulls with no lymphoid or brain tissue can be transported from inside to outside a CWD Management Zone.
About Bobby Cleveland 1343 Articles
Bobby Cleveland has covered sports in Mississippi for over 40 years. A native of Hattiesburg and graduate of the University of Southern Mississippi, Cleveland lives on Ross Barnett Reservoir near Jackson with his wife Pam.