Plans for what some producers call the TB highway do not sit well with western Manitoba cattle producers.
Ray Armbruster, a producer from Rossburn, Man., who chairs the Manitoba Cattle Producers Association animal health committee, said allowing deer and elk to wander more freely between Riding Mountain National Park and Duck Mountain Provincial Park by enhancing the wildlife corridor between the two parks will not eradicate bovine tuberculosis, even though that is the goal.
TB is an infectious, reportable disease that has been a problem in the Riding Mountain region for decades. Although livestock are considered TB-free, the disease exists in elk and deer that live in and around the park.
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Since 1991, 40 elk and nine white-tailed deer have tested positive. There have also been 10 positive cattle herds and one exposed herd.
Armbruster’s entire herd, located near the park, was slaughtered in 1997 after it tested positive.
The Riding Mountain Eradication Area (RMEA) was established in 2002 and domestic livestock in the region were declared TB-free in 2006.
Cattle herds are subject to either periodic or ongoing testing. A five-year-old cow tested positive in 2008, but the discovery didn’t affect the region’s TB-free status.
Prior to that, the last positive test in a domestic animal was made in 2004.
Still prevalent
Armbruster said the discovery of a positive white-tailed deer last winter indicates the disease is still present in the wild, but governments don’t seem to be concerned.
For example, he said the Nature Conservancy of Canada (NCC) added 800 acres to its landholdings near the park, and the provincial government contributed $7 million for its programs.
Wildlife corridors are part of the NCC’s work. It is working within the 25 kilometres between Riding Mountain and Duck Mountain to ensure animals have the freedom to roam.
“We’re not against conservation, but under these circumstances it’s just irresponsible to enhance the opportunity to spread (TB),” Armbruster said.
He said the provincial conservation and agriculture departments and the federal agriculture and parks departments need better co-ordination.
“There is a disconnect in strategy in trying to eradicate it,” he said.
Armbruster made his case when federal agriculture minister Gerry Ritz appeared before the Canadian Cattlemen’s Association semi-annual meeting in Regina last month.
“Would the minister support a multi-stakeholder forum to discuss the implications of federal-provincial wildlife policies that are not consistent with animal health policy and protection?” he asked.
Ritz replied that he would gladly discuss the matter with federal environment minister Jim Prentice.
“I have no problem with that,” he added, reminding producers that his home area in western Saskatchewan was the site of a chronic wasting disease outbreak in elk.
“I’m a little bit ill at ease when I see wildlife move.”
The testing program in Manitoba has found the problem is most serious in the RMEA’s western control zone, and efforts are now concentrated there.
Armbruster said producers appreciate Parks Canada’s decision to work more aggressively on eradication rather than collar animals, do blood tests and kill them if necessary.
The park’s elk population has been reduced to about half of what it was, but the percentage of animals testing positive hasn’t changed.
Producers don’t want to see the elk disappear, Armbruster said, but they’ve spent too much time and money testing their cattle.
“We’ve got 20 years invested in testing cattle,” he said.
“We’ve eradicated it many times over but there’s always the chance of re-infection by wildlife.”
He added that Ritz should put pressure on Prentice and the Manitoba government to make every effort to eradicate TB in the wild.
In the meantime, producers must continue to test and work to keep their herds disease free by reducing interaction with elk and deer.
