Tennessee is Constructing $1 Million Deer Carcass Incinerator to Combat Deer Disease
OutdoorHub Reporters 01.15.20
The Tennessee Fish and Wildlife Commission announced in a press release that hunters and processors will have access to a new deer carcass incinerator to “address deer carcass disposal,” and combat the spread of CWD.
The $1 million incinerator is being constructed on the west side of the state at the Fayette County Landfill and will be maintained and operated by Fayette County, TWRA wrote in a news release on January 6.
“CWD poses many challenges including safe disposal of deer carcasses. As a response to concerns from citizens regarding the burial of carcasses, the TWFC has fully funded the purchase of a large incinerator that will be operational by next hunting season” said Dr. Hank Wright, commissioner of TFWC District 9. “We are working to put the best science available to use while serving not only the hunting public, but all citizens living in southwest Tennessee.”
The large-scale incinerator will be available to processors and hunters to dispose of deer from the CWD-positive and high-risk counties of southwest Tennessee. The incinerator will get above 1,800 degrees Fahrenheit, the temperature necessary to kill the disease.
“When it comes to inactivating and denaturing prions and making them unavailable to infect additional animals, wildlife managers have very limited options,” said Dr. Dan Grove, UT Extension Assistant Professor and Wildlife Veterinarian. “Having a large scale incinerator available in Unit CWD will help provide a needed outlet for many of the potentially infectious waste materials generated from deer and CWD management activities in southwest Tennessee.”
Since detecting CWD first in December of 2018, the Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency has established the goal of keeping CWD from spreading, keeping the number of diseased deer in the affected area to a minimum, and reducing disease rates where possible. The TWRA has already sampled more than 10,000 deer for CWD this deer season and the reported number of positives this season is 148 thus far.
