WILDLIFE & FISHERIES: Permits the possession of white-tailed deer by wildlife rehabilitators

Permitted rehabilitators can keep deer under limits

Louisiana wildlife rehabilitators with the required permit can possess eligible white-tailed deer for rehabilitation. Deer from outside Louisiana cannot be rehabilitated. Injured or orphaned deer from a Chronic Wasting Disease (CWD) Management Zone must stay within that zone for rehabilitation and release. Deer with open fractures, neurological symptoms, or symptoms of epizootic hemorrhagic disease or bluetongue virus are ineligible. Deer that have become used to humans are also ineligible. Rehabilitators must watch for neurological symptoms and other signs of CWD. A deer showing abnormal neurological symptoms must be put down, and a CWD sample sent to the wildlife department. All deer at the facility must stay quarantined until a negative test result arrives. A positive CWD test requires all live white-tailed deer at the facility to be put down and sampled. The facility is then permanently barred from deer rehabilitation. One fawn needs an enclosure at least 15 feet long, 20 feet wide, and 8 feet high. Each added animal requires 50 more square feet, with no more than four fawns per enclosure. Enclosures must use wood, wire at least 12-gauge thick with openings no larger than 2 inches, or other sturdy materials. They must prevent escape and keep domestic animals and predators out. Enclosures must be out of sight of busy human and pet activity. Wire-mesh enclosures need privacy or shade cloth on all sides. Once fawns are used to bottle feeding, they must be fed only from a hanging rack. Rehabilitators must notify the department's permits coordinator at least 72 hours before a planned release. The department must specify the release sites before each release. Released deer cannot have tags, collars, or other visible marks. Violations carry penalties and can result in loss of the rehabilitation permit.