Michigan: DNR to Begin UP Deer Migration Study
The Michigan Department of Natural Resources will soon begin capturing and collaring white-tailed deer in the western Upper Peninsula as part of a multi-year study to quantify movement patterns of deer, especially migration between winter and summer ranges.
Completing the study will provide DNR wildlife managers with valuable information needed if chronic wasting disease – an incurable, always fatal disease found in deer, moose, mule deer and elk (cervids) – is detected in the U.P.
“Although CWD has not yet been documented in the Upper Peninsula, managers found infected deer in two Wisconsin captive cervid facilities within 30 miles of the Michigan border,” said Terry Minzey, DNR U.P. regional wildlife supervisor. “While it is not possible to predict if, or when, we will find CWD in the U.P., preparations seem prudent. In some instances, deer in the U.P. have been documented seasonally migrating more than 30 miles.” Read more