Manitoba Movement Protocol Facts:
In order to move animals into Manitoba the following regulations must be followed.
Manitoba is one of the few Areas that have such strict movement protocol.
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Once you find elk you may want to purchase, you must send a letter to
John Taylor, Director of Animal Industry Branch. He will do some checking
to see if the farm might qualify.
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He will then send a letter back to the farmer stating whether you can
or cannot proceed with attempting to qualify the elk for movement to
Manitoba.
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Exporting farmer must have an up to date inventory of all animals for
at least the last three years. This must include a report of all deaths on
the farm and postmortem results (must include testing for CWD).
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The licenced veterinarian and the Province vet must both sign on that
the health status of the herd is good and that they have familiar with herd
and the farm for at least the last 5 years (60 months) and that there has
not been any sickness or unexplained deaths.
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Checks will be done to insure that the farm does not have any
connection to any CWD infected herd or animal or to any trace out farm.
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If the farm inventory shows that it has received animals from another
farm with the last 3 years, we must go to that farm and do all the above, and
so on and so on.
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This makes it possible to only import animals from a closed or very
restricted herd, where the farmer has been keeping perfect records for
the last 3 years, and that he/she can prove to their local vet, their
Provincial vet, the Manitoba Provincial Vet and John Taylor that the animals are
completely healthy and free from disease, including but not restricted
to CWD, Tb, Johne's, brucellosis and external or internal parasites.
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If any farm has had any animals die and has not done the postmortem
(including CWD), they would not be allowed to move animals into the
province.
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All animals moving into the province must be DNA genotyped and matched
to both parents, and Purity tested to be sure no red deer genes are
present.
Only a very small number of farms or herds would qualify to move elk
into Manitoba.
Re: Tuberculosis and Elk Farming in Manitoba
The Facts
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TB is believed to have been introduced to Manitoba by domestic livestock, long ago.
- TB was never diagnosed in wildlife before it was recognized in domestic livestock.
- TB has never been diagnosed or suspected in farmed elk or deer in Manitoba.
- TB has not been diagnosed in any farmed cervid (deer or elk) in Canada for over two years.
- The few incidents of TB in farmed elk or deer in Canada historically have all been traced back to imported or zoo source animals, never to a wild source.
- The mode of transmission of TB in the RMNP periphery is believed to be through saliva exchanged on hay bales between cattle and wild elk and deer.
- Farmed elk are kept behind fences that are elk and deer proof.
- The new requirements for testing cattle and bison in GHAs 23 and 23 A around the Park are not at all new to elk farmers. All farmed cervids in Canada have been tested for TB at least once every three years, and often once every year, since before 1990.
- All elk that die on farms in Manitoba must be submitted for postmortem examination to determine cause of death.
- All farmed elk that are slaughtered for meat in Manitoba abattoirs are inspected for any evidence of disease, including TB, in the same way that all cattle are inspected.
- In addition to the same inspection as is applied to cattle, the heads of these elk have been inspected for any sign of Chronic Wasting Disease for the past five years. NO evidence of CWD has been found, on farms or in the wild.
