Land Conservation and Stewardship

A new study has found high rates of SARS CoV-2 (the virus that causes COVID-19) exposure and active infection among white-tailed deer tested across Iowa. Previously, antibodies detected in deer suggested exposure to the virus, but this is the first confirmation of active infection and deer-to-deer transmission. Researchers at Penn State University also used genome sequencing of the viral samples to learn that SARS CoV-2 reached deer through multiple “spillover” events from humans. There is still no evidence that deer…

Things were not looking good for Texas’ white-tailed deer population in January with the U.S. Drought Monitor showing more than 90 percent of the state experiencing abnormally dry to exceptional drought conditions. Then came winter storm Uri in February with freezing temperatures, snow and ice across much of the state, which continued the shortage of plants for browsing and prompted significant mortality of animals from axis deer to bats, according to a report by Alan Cain, Texas Parks & Wildlife…