The Wild Sheep Foundation (WSF) and many others in the hunting, conservation and ranching communities are concerned about a recent outbreak of New World screwworm in Mexico that is quickly moving north towards the U.S. This parasite is devastating to livestock and native wildlife and WSF strongly supports legislation being proposed to prevent and mitigate this infestation.
The New World Screwworm (NWS) is a parasitic fly whose larvae feed on livestock, wildlife, and in rare cases, humans, and populations are moving toward the United States at an alarming rate. They can cause serious damage to their host, including death.
This week, the USDA announced the suspension of live cattle, horse, and bison imports through the southern border in response to the growing spread of the NWS and recent outbreaks in Mexico.
A Strengthening Tactics to Obstruct the Population of Screwworms (STOP Screwworms) Act is being introduced by U.S. Senators John Cornyn (R-TX), Ted Cruz (R-TX), and Ben Ray Luján (D-NM) and Congressman Tony Gonzales (TX-23).
“As a life-long resident of Texas, this one hit home for me,” commented Corey Mason WSF’s Exec. VP of Conservation & COO. “I recall the horror stories from the last outbreak back in the 1960s and with our recent efforts to re-establish desert bighorn sheep in Texas, not to mention what this means for cattle, mule deer and whitetail deer, this situation must be dealt with swiftly.”
“Texas’ desert bighorn sheep populations have been devastated in recent years due to disease transmission primarily from invasive aoudad introduced to Texas starting in the 1950s. Our desert bighorns have enough challenges, a New World Screwworm infestation could wipe desert sheep off the Texas landscape” stated Sam Cunningham, WSF Director and President of Texas Bighorn Society.
The STOP Screwworms Act would authorize funds for and direct the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) to begin construction on a new sterile fly production facility to combat the growing New World screwworm outbreak that threatens to wreak havoc on the American cattle industry, as well as other wildlife species.
The new facility would produce sterile male screwworm flies that would be released into infested areas to help combat the growth of the screwworm population. The sterile fly technique was instrumental in eradicating NWS from the United States in the 1960s and from Mexico in the ‘90s, as sterile male flies can outcompete local populations and effectively wipe out an entire generation of screwworms in a given area.
“We join our friends in the livestock community and at Texas Parks & Wildlife Department in applauding Senators Cornyn, Cruz and Lujan and Representative Gonzales for bringing this situation to light and taking swift action on a solution,” Mason continued. “Healthy food production and wildlife health should concern everyone.”
The Wild Sheep Foundation (WSF), based in Bozeman, Mont., was founded in 1977 by sportsmen and other wild sheep conservationists. WSF is the premier advocate for wild sheep, having raised and expended more than $145 million, positively impacting these species through population and habitat enhancements, research and education, and conservation advocacy programs in North America, Europe, and Asia to “Put and Keep Wild Sheep On the Mountain”®. In North America, these and other efforts have increased bighorn sheep populations from historic lows in the 1950s-60s of 25,000 to more than 85,000 today. WSF has a membership of more than 11,000 worldwide. www.wildsheepfoundation.org
