The Canadian border is now open to American elk imports.
But producers aren’t scared of a flood of disease pouring north, according to the president of the Saskatchewan Elk Breeders Association. They are putting their trust in federal regulators.
“They’re very, very cautious,” said Lloyd Spencer about the Canadian Food Inspection Agency, which set the rules governing elk imported from the United States.
The U.S. border has been closed for years because of a host of disease worries. Some American elk populations have brucellosis, tuberculosis, parasitic worms and chronic wasting disease – the cervid equivalent of scrapie in sheep.
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Under the CFIA protocol, American animals can now be imported if they go through a long list of tests, are quarantined, and do not come from certain areas.
No elk can be imported from Colorado or Wyoming, the two states where chronic wasting disease exists in wild deer and elk herds.
All imported animals have to be born on farms. The herds they are born into must be proven free of chronic wasting disease. No animal in the herds can be derived from Colorado or Wyoming elk.
The herd an animal comes from must be at least 40 kilometres from wild herds.
The herd must be proven free of many diseases, including brucellosis and tuberculosis.
Once approved to cross the border, the Canadian importer must hold them in quarantine in Canada for 60 days. After that, if they are still free of all diseases, they are allowed into the domestic herd.
Elk importers must satisfy provincial regulations as well. In Saskatchewan that means that no elk can be imported from areas that have the p. tenuis and e. cervi parasitic worms that afflict elk in many parts of North America, including Manitoba and Ontario.
Presently Saskatchewan and Alberta refuse to allow each other’s elk into their province. Alberta has closed the border to Saskatchewan for years, arguing there is a chance Saskatchewan elk could carry p. tenuis into their domestic herd.
Saskatchewan was open to Alberta elk imports until last year, when the border was shut so officials could investigate the disease threat Alberta elk could pose for Saskatchewan herds.
The two provinces are now negotiating an open border.
Until then, Saskatchewan producers find it easier to import U.S. animals than Alberta elk.