B&C Position Statement - Deer and Elk Breeding

Breeders of captive, native North American cervids, primarily white-tailed deer and elk, raise these animals to sell as breeding stock, as trophy animals for fee-based shooting operations, or to produce meat, semen, velvet, and other saleable parts. The number of farms, ranches and other facilities engaged in this business has been growing rapidly over the past decade, and breeding captive cervids has become a billion-dollar industry in some states. As this industry grows, so do concerns over regulating this industry and the management of captive deer and elk.
 
In recent years, the captive cervid industry has lobbied for white-tailed deer to be reclassified from wildlife to livestock such as cattle, with the objective of transferring regulatory authority from fish and game departments to departments of agriculture to obtain oversight more favorable to their industry. In jurisdictions where such transfer has occurred, regulation and oversight of captive-cervid facilities has deteriorated, which has led to increased escapes and enhanced risk for transmission of CWD and other diseases to free-ranging wildlife. 

In addition, breeders have sought to claim private ownership of the captive cervids they raise. Since the 19th century, the Public Trust Doctrine has affirmed that states own wildlife and manage it in trust for the benefit of the public. This is fundamental to North America’s approach to wildlife conservation—which is the most successful in the world—as described by the North American Model of Wildlife Conservation. The majority of state legislatures have codified the Public Trust Doctrine in their statutes.¹  

Researchers have determined that human-assisted transportation of live, captive cervids to distant locations is likely the most significant factor contributing to the spread of Chronic Wasting Disease (CWD). CWD is a contagious, always fatal disease that affects cervids. CWD transmission between wild and captive cervids can occur in either direction through fence-line contact or through the escape of captive animals. There is currently no treatment or vaccine for CWD, and no reliable test for detecting CWD in live animals. CWD has been detected in captive and wild cervid populations in more than half of the U.S. states and several Canadian provinces. It is continuing to spread to new locations across North America despite efforts to slow the geographic expansion of affected areas.²  

As the nation’s oldest wildlife conservation organization, the Boone and Crockett Club is concerned with any issue that prevents wild, free-ranging big game populations from thriving in the long term and practices it deems unlikely to produce socially acceptable and sustainable results for wildlife.