Conservation officials in New York are hoping to locate an “exotic,” non-native species of the elk family that has reportedly been spotted in the central part of the state and may have potential to infect the native white-tailed deer population with a deadly disease.
The New York Department of Environmental Conservation has purportedly received multiple trail camera photos of a male sika deer, a species of small elk that is native to Japan and Eastern Asia,New York Upstate reported. At least two separate sources have sent the photos to officials.
One man interviewed by the publication, Jerry Grigonis, of Fulton, said he first noticed the deer on his trail camera in Granby, a small town in Oswego County, in November.
The sika deer has not before been found in New York except for on a private hunting reserve on Long Island, New York Upstate reported, citing a 2003 report from Newsday. Other states where the sika deer can be found include Texas, Virginia and along the eastern shore of Maryland.
Officials are concerned the sika deer could carry chronic wasting disease, “a fatal, neurological illness occurring in North American cervids (members of the deer family), including white-tailed deer, mule deer, elk, and moose,” according to the U.S. Geological Survey. If it does, there is potential that this species could spread the illness to the local white-tailed deer population.
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2 comments:
Strange how New Yorkers can clearly see that "Non-native" animals are ruining and destroying their state, but when it comes to "Non-native" people they turn a blind eye!
Worried? If, maybe. Sika deer have been living here in Maryland for many years without CWD, and the white tail population is always been in need of hunting pressure from population numbers alone.
This guy is talking out of his arse.
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