12.9.1035    SYLVATIC PLAGUE PRECAUTIONS

(1) Prairie dogs may not be moved from an area with presumed or documented sylvatic plague to an area where plague is not present.

(2) At a minimum, sending and receiving areas must be monitored 14 days prior to trapping and againwithin 48 hours of trapping to determine whether any evidence of plague is present.

(3) If presumedplague is indicated at a sending or receiving area, the department must be notified immediately and the translocation proposal may be altered or cancelled.

(4) Prairie dogs may not be transported from a sending area within five miles of a site with presumed or confirmed sylvatic plague for a minimum of one year after the site was presumed or confirmed to have plague.

(5) Where there is no evidence of presumed or documented plague, or if the receiving area is within 50 miles of the sending area, quarantine is unnecessary if the following conditions are met:

(a) there is no evidence of numerical declines in population numbers that would suggest plague;

(b) pre-capture monitoring at the sending site 14 days prior and within 48 hours prior to trapping indicates no evidence of rapid or unexplained declines in prairie dog numbers or the presence of prairie dog carcasses that would signal presumed plague; and

(c) prairie dogs are treated for fleas at the capture area with carbaryl, permethrin, or other appropriate pulicide.

History: 87-1-301, 87-5-105, MCA; IMP, 87-1-301, 87-5-105, MCA; NEW, 2004 MAR p. 1756, Eff. 8/6/04.