Elk

If you have ever thought you would like to come to Clam Lake, Wisconsin to try and glimpse some of your Wisconsin elk herd, but didn’t know where to start, the Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation invites you to the perfect introductory event:  WI RMEF Bugle Days Rendezvous on September 7, 8, 9 in Clam Lake, WI.

The weekend will be totally “elk-centric” starting Friday evening (September 7th) at our Rendezvous headquarters, the Day Lake Picnic area just north of Clam Lake (follow the signs!).  There you will see a real elk camp set up and enjoy an evening reception with RMEF members and volunteers. The opportunity to see elk in this area is very high.  In 2011, we had several spike bulls wandering the area into the picnic grounds.  On Saturday and Sunday mornings, while limited to a number of registered participants, there is an opportunity to go on DNR guided field trips to get a closer glimpse of elk and hear some real elk bugles!

Saturday afternoon, just like in our western states, RMEF volunteers and those interested will help out in a full “boots on the ground” project to remove barbed wire fence from critical elk habitat.  Saturday evening, treat yourself, family and friends to a chicken dinner (donations appreciated, registration required), catered by the Elk Horn Restaurant.  DNR Elk Biologist Laine Stowell will present information and answer questions about Wisconsin elk, and the leadership from the Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation will discuss the RMEF mission and hunting heritage.

Registration is required for this event, go to www.rmefwisconsin.org and click on the Bugle Days poster for more details and to register.

Contact WI RMEF Volunteer Chair Jennifer Nieland at 920-434-1229 or Jennifer.Nieland@yahoo.com for more information.

[Image: Courtesy of www.rmefwisconsin.org]

Wisconsin’s elk herd in the Clam Lake area is expected to grow by 20 percent this year, based on state wildlife biologists’ observations of new calves born in recent weeks.

Biologists with the Department of Natural Resources and University of Wisconsin Stevens Point wildlife researchers monitoring Wisconsin’s growing elk herd in the Clam Lake area report that the 24 elk they were watching over the spring produced 11 new calves.

“Based on our experience, we estimate that a total of around 25 to 30 calves were born this spring,” said Laine Stowell, DNR’s head elk biologist. “About one-third will perish for various reasons by the end of the year, leaving us with a population of roughly 120, a 20 percent increase over last year.”

Elk were once native to Wisconsin and are the second largest member of the cervid or deer family in North America after the moose, according to Michelle Windsor, DNR’s acting chief big game ecologist.

Elk were extirpated from Wisconsin in the mid- 1800s. A failed attempt was made to reintroduce them in the 1930s but interest in rebuilding a herd remained, Windsor said. In 1994, a second reintroduction attempt released 25 elk, captured in Michigan, into the Clam Lake area. Today’s herd is the result of that effort.

“With the help of University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point researchers, our biologists have tracked female elk and black bears in the Clam Lake area of northeast Sawyer County, southwest Ashland County and southeast Bayfield County these past four weeks,” said Stowell. “In addition to monitoring the female elk and searching for the newly born elk calves, UWSP researchers intensely monitored black bear activity in the same area to investigate bear predation on elk calves.”
Stowell said that the researchers documented seven male calves, two female calves and two unknowns. Eight of the new calves were successfully radio-collared, two were too big to capture and one was discovered still-born.

Female elk, unlike the whitetailed deer, don’t breed until their second year and rarely have twins, which together account for the slower growth of the elk herd compared to a deer herd.

[Image: Courtesy of Flickr user 20daysofrain]

This report from Wisconsin DNR and Glidden Enterprise.

Wisconsin’s elk herd came through the winter in excellent condition, according to Wisconsin’s wildlife officials who estimate the state herd to now be between 85 and 90 animals.

Laine Stowell, a wildlife biologist and elk specialist for the state Department of Natural Resources, said that all the state’s elk appear to have survived the winter. He added, that because the weather was mild — causing little or no stress on the elk — the females should have ‘vigorous, healthy calves this spring.’ Most of the elk are within a 20-mile radius around Clam Lake, in Ashland County. A seed herd of 25 elk were released in the area in 1995 to reestablish the animal in the state.

Stowell said researchers were busy over the winter monitoring radio-collared elk, and trapping elk to place new or replace worn radio collar on them, and checking the health of the state herd. There are currently 36 working radio transmitter collars on the air.

Elk staff conducted ground telemetry location surveys and aerial telemetry surveys. ‘During these surveys, we made about 293 elk telemetry locations and 586 individual elk mortality checks,’ Stowell said. The latter determine if any elk have died or if collars were dropped. None were found.

Weather conditions determined the outcome of the aerial surveys. Stowell said the best results were on a February day that had light winds, clear skies and temperatures in the 20s. ‘Elk seemed to be sunning themselves everywhere and we counted 52 animals,’ he said.

Researchers from universities at Connecticut, Wisconsin, Ontario, and Alberta working together as the Turchin Group conducted snow depth and vegetarian surveys and initiated feces collection for food habit studies. The group also provided the DNR with 10 GPS (geographic/global positioning system) radio collars, eight of which were attached to elk that were trapped this winter.

“Those collars are configured to take GPS locations once every four hours and on each Wednesday every 30 minutes,” Stowell said. “The collars will be recovered and data downloaded in about a year,” Stowell added.

Stowell said this winter was one of the best for trapping elk. Elk are lured with bait into the corral through a passageway with doors that shut behind them. Individual animals can then be collared, a blood sample taken and inoculated for any diseases.

A total of 31 elk were caught. Sixteen of these were recaptures, either from this year or previous years. Stowell said of interest to the researchers was that eight of the adult cow recaptures were of the original 16 female elk released in 1995.

“Five of those had nonfunctioning collars that had been put on in 1995,” he said. In some cases the smaller calf collars were replaced with larger adult collars. At other times animals outgrow their collars too quickly, and a release mechanism allows the collar to drop off. One bull elk that had a calf collar drop off, had an adult collar put on.

As part of elk research efforts, University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point researchers also went into nine bear dens in the Clam Lake elk range and placed collars on five yearlings, replaced collars on five of the adult sows and assessed birthing and mortality rates of yearlings. The bear research along with wolf studies provides information on predator, prey relationships with elk.

[Image: Courtesy of Flickr user Rbennison]

The Clam Lake area elk herd is likely to reach at least 100 animals and possibly 115 following this year’s calving season, a Department of Natural Resources biologist told members of the Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation (RMEF) last Saturday in Hayward.

“We are expecting 30 to 35 calves to be born” in late spring and early summer, said Laine Stowell.

The projected population is nearly a five-fold increase over the 25 elk brought in from Michigan in 1995 as an experiment, with the goal of re-establishing a species that was extirpated from the state 130 years ago.

Right now, there are 20 bulls of various ages, and an estimated 40 cows—about a quarter which are heifers and don’t normally breed. About two-fifths of the heifers can become pregnant. “We are observing a 90 percent pregnancy rate among the cows 2 1/2 years or older,” Stowell said.

“Right now, the future looks bright for the Clam Lake elk herd. There’s a lot of public support for the elk” in this area, and from people who want to see elk established elsewhere in Wisconsin, Stowell said.

More than 230 people attended last Saturday’s RMEF Namekagon Valley Chapter banquet and auction at the Country Inn and Suites. The event was a sell-out, with attendees from as far as Madison and Minneapolis.

Since the Wisconsin elk restoration effort first began, the RMEF has put more than $500,000 into it—more than the State of Wisconsin and all other sources combined, said local chapter director Dave Brinkman.

“Without the Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation, there wouldn’t be any elk right now in Wisconsin,” Stowell said.

The management plan approved by the Natural Resources Board last year calls for a natural increase in the Clam Lake elk herd population to the target level of two elk per square mile in a 280-square-mile core area of Chequamegon National Forest centered on Clam Lake. Right now, there’s 1.6 elk per square mile there, Stowell said.

There has been no special accommodation for the elk – no change in forest management and no trail closures – in the core area, he added.

The plan also calls for a target population of 1.5 elk per square mile in the 700-square-mile buffer area, bordered by a hypothetical boundary line running from Seeley to Loretta-Draper, east to Fifield, north to Mellen, to Grand View, and back to Seeley.

“So if you fill that whole area up, you’re talking about 1,500 to 1,600 elk,” Stowell said. There is suitable elk habitat contiguous to that, “so we may expand that core area, depending on the interest of communities in that area.”

If the elk wander to nearby areas such as Washburn and Douglas counties, “the protocol calls for leaving the elk alone as long as the people don’t complain about them,” Stowell said. “The elk will exist wherever we let them exist.”

Mobile Animals

Some 85 percent of the elk remain in a 45-square-mile area, so “there is a lot of growing room” for that herd, Stowell added.

“In deep snow, the long-legged elk have a lot of mobility and in cold weather they seem to be better insulated even than whitetail deer,” said Stowell. “In severe weather, they will use white cedar cover, but they don’t stay in one place like deer do.

Likewise, the elk move around to feed during every month of the year, Stowell indicated. “We haven’t seen concentrated vegetative damage to date.”

The DNR staff continues to monitor radio-collared elk in the area, as well as make flights to observe them from airplanes. The animals “don’t spend a lot of time feeding” in the grassy openings of the ELF transmission line, Stowell said. They spend just as much time feeding on aspen browse in logged-over areas or brushy areas along streams, he said.

“The Clam Lake area appears to be good range for them, because the population is growing very well,” he added.

The elk “aren’t as attracted to corn as deer are, but the elk are visiting” feed put out by people for deer, such as hay and alfalfa pellets, Stowell said. And they have showed up at bait sites established by bow deer hunters.

However, “these are still wild elk,” Stowell said. “Even with telemetry, these are tough critters to get close to. I think having predator wolves and bears out there keeps them on their toes. The elk don’t have a lot of trust in human beings either.”

Elk Losses Few

Stowell said that an elk calf was found dead on Jan. 23 this year, just a day or two after it expired. A field necropsy revealed that the 100-pound-plus animal was emaciated, and died of malnutrition. Veterinarians in Madison are looking at samples to see if the elk had a high load of intestinal parasites, but that hasn’t been verified, he added.

But in early March, Stowell spotted half a dozen elk calves that looked healthy and were feeding on vegetation. There was no indication that they were feeding on bait.

Since 1995, at least three elk calves have been lost to bear depredation, and three yearlings have been killed by timber wolves, Stowell said.

The cow elk do a good job of protecting their young from marauding wolves, Stowell indicated. The elk who are most vulnerable to wolves are the yearlings who are almost a year old when their mothers abandon them prior to giving birth to another calf.

“Regardless of black bear and wolf predation, we are still seeing about a 30 percent growth in the elk herd” each year, Stowell said.

“We have lost two elk”—-a raghorn bull and a calf—-who were hit by vehicles on Hwy. 77, Stowell added. Unlike deer, “elk don’t dart out in front of vehicles, but when they get it in their mind to cross the road, they will walk across,” he said.

“Every elk that we handle, we take a blood sample from to test for brucellosis, tuberculosis, and other ungulate diseases to make sure that the elk we have out there remain healthy,” he added. “Any elk in close association with (domestic) livestock will be captured or removed.”
Future hunt

Once the elk population reaches the established goals, Wisconsin would have an elk hunt similar to Michigan’s in order to control the numbers, Stowell indicated. Michigan has a hunt during the bugling season in September, and also a hunt in early December.

A limited hunt for expendable bulls—-spike or raghorns who aren’t important breeders—could begin after the Clam Lake herd reaches 150 animals, which is projected in 2003. Any weapon legal for whitetail deer could be used to hunt elk.

“Personally, I would hope we would wait a while before having a hunting season, because it would be work-intensive. But it would depend on public interest,” Stowell added.

Stowell has worked 11 years with the DNR, mostly in wildlife management. He transferred into the newly-created position of elk biologist at Hayward last August.

[Image: Courtesy of Flickr user miatasailor]

Spooner, Wisconsin – Conservation Wardens are investigating the shooting of a cow elk on the Chequamegon National Forest 12 miles west of Clam Lake on Saturday. The person who shot the animal turned himself in to the Department of Natural Resources claiming he mistook the animal for a large deer.

The elk was shot at about 50 yards with a 12 gauge shot gun and wildlife officials estimated the animal’s weight to be about 350 pounds. State Big Game Specialist Bill Mytton said it is unfortunate that this incident occurred.

“An adult breeding cow is one of the most valuable elements of the herd,” he said, “and it is a tragedy that we lost one.” The incident occurred during the antlerless only Zone T deer hunt that began on Oct. 26 and ran through Oct. 29. A total of about 80 elk now roam a 50 square mile area around Clam Lake. The herd has grown from a seed herd of 25 elk released in May 1995. State, federal and local officials have placed signs and notified hunting groups about the elk. The last elk to be shot by a hunter was in the fall of 1995 during the November gun deer season. That animal was a radio collared cow, which was not found until the following spring at which time the hunter was cited and fined for killing a protected animal.

Conservation wardens will discuss the case with the Sawyer County District Attorney’s office on whether or not charges will be filed against the individual and if so what those charges would be.

“The first rule of hunting is to make absolutely sure of your target before you pull the trigger. This is especially true in an area that has an elk population such as where this incident took place. In this regrettable case, it’s significant that the hunter did notify us of what had occurred, and while we will take this into account in our recommendation to the District Attorney, we feel he is still responsible for his actions. We have put up signs and done all we can to inform people of the presence of elk in the area. At some point, we must hold the individual accountable for his actions and let the public know this behavior will not be tolerated”, said Dave Zeug DNR Northern Regional warden supervisor.

[Image: Courtesy of Flickr user hidesertforester]

Clam Lake, Wisconsin. After five years of research, the Wisconsin Elk Reintroduction Study has culminated in approval of the management plan and environmental assessment for the Clam Lake Elk Herd by the Wisconsin Natural Resource Board. Wisconsin’s elk are now an official state wildlife species and will be allowed to repopulate naturally. Approval of the management plan also establishes protocol for other elk reintroductions in the state, which would use the Clam Lake plan as a model to formulate a statewide management plan.

In 1995, the Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation teamed up with the University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point and the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources to release 25 wild elk into the Chequamegon National Forest, where they had been absent for 130 years. Since then, the reintroduced elk herd has steadily increased to nearly 100 animals, including about 30 calves born this spring.

The Wisconsin DNR has set a management goal of two elk per square mile in the 288-square-mile core elk range, with limited hunting permits to be allotted when the herd size reaches 150 animals. Management goals will be continually reassessed as the DNR discovers which habitats the elk use more frequently and in what densities.

To date, Elk Foundation volunteers and partners have raised more than $480,000 to help complete the reintroduction study and to further research and manage the new herd. “Elk are something special. Like wolves, they are the epitome of what is wild,” said Bernie Lemon, RMEF Wisconsin volunteer state chair. “Having the herd here will be a thrill for children, many who may never get a chance to go to Yellowstone Park and see elk. It’s a piece of the puzzle that is no longer missing.”

The Elk Foundation recently committed an additional $78,000 for 2001 to help the DNR implement the long-term state elk management plan and complete other wildlife projects in Wisconsin. The plan will include identifying and evaluating other areas where reintroductions are feasible in the Central Forest and the northern portions of the state. A computer mapping project with the Great Lakes Indian Fish and Wildlife Commission and the DNR will be critical in determining future elk release areas. The DNR will hold public meetings this fall to discuss potential reintroduction sites.

The Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation is an international, nonprofit conservation organization whose mission is to ensure the future of elk, other wildlife and their habitat. Founded in 1984, the Foundation now has 113,000 members who have helped generate the funds to conserve and enhance 3 million acres of wildlife habitat across North America.

[Image: Courtesy of Flickr user Dailyville]

This report from Glidden Enterprise.

The Clam Lake elk herd experienced another good year in 1999. The winter of 1998-1999 was very mild, and survival of both adults and calves was good.

The herd was estimated at 45-47 elk going into the calving season. At least 16 calves were born, 11 of which were captured and radio-collared within their first few days of life to allow monitoring of survival. To date, 10 of the 11 are still alive. The summer also went smoothly, with no unusual events reported. The rut was punctual and brief this year, indicating that breeding was efficient with most of the cows probably bred. The three oldest bulls, number 3, 10, and 19 (all 5 year-olds) were with separate harem groups and likely did almost all the breeding.

Bugling was heard beginning in mid-September and lasting into early October. Fall was also uneventful this year, with no known moralities during gun deer season. Almost all of the hunters encountered by Wisconsin Department of Natural Resource (DNR) biologists were aware that elk inhabited the areas they were hunting, and many reported seeing elk recently or during the past few years.

The winter of 1999-2000 has again gotten off to a very mild start. And survival is expected to be good. The herd is now estimate at 60-65 animals.

There were 8 known elk mortalities during 1999:

• February 3 – Yearling bull #31 was found dead in a spring hole on private property north of the Clam Lake area. It had apparently gotten into the spring hole and drowned after unsuccessfully trying to climb out.
• February 26 – Male calf #43 was found dead with the carcass heavily scavenged. University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point (UW-SP) elk project personnel conducted a field necropsy, but they were unable to conclusively determine the cause of death. Predation was suspected as the probable cause of death, however.
• April 15 – Yearling bull #32 died as a result of injuries sustained in a collision with a car several months earlier.
• April 26 – Female calf #47 (nearly 1 year old) was found dead by UW-SP biologists. She was killed by wolves.
• April 28 – Male calf #44 (nearly 1 year old) was found dead, also killed by wolves.
• June 5 – Male calf #62 was found dead by biologists. Investigation of the carcass by DNR wildlife health specialists in Madison, WI revealed that capture stress and dehydration were the causes of death. When he was captured at 6-8 days of age by DNR biologists this calf was lighter than average (29 pounds) and very lethargic, indicating that he was already in poor condition.
• August 2 – Female #70, an uncollared calf, was found dead along Highway 77 by an elk project biologist. She had obviously been hit by a car.
• December 4 – Two-year old bull #36 was found incapacitated but alive by a muzzleloader hunter, who reported it to DNR biologists. They found the elk lying on its side with legs moving, but unable to stand up. Because evidence indicated that the animal had been there a long time, the decision was made to euthanize it. Examination of the carcass revealed that it probably died from internal injuries received in an unreported collision with a vehicle.

Most of the herd continued to remain within the study area in the vicinity of the area where they were originally released. With the exception of bulls #31 and #32 who both ranged north onto private land before they died, no major movements were observed. The elk are clearly finding all of their seasonal requirements within a relatively small area near Clam Lake.

This year marked the transfer of monitoring and management responsibilities from UW-SP to the DNR. The transition has gone smoothly, in large part because of the assistance of UW-SP researchers Dr. Ray Anderson and John Schmidt, who helped DNR personnnel during this phase to learn more about the Clam Lake elk and the methods used to study them. While completing his graduate thesis on habitat selection by the Clam Lake elk, John is continuing to monitor the herd for the DNR. He is being assisted by Interim Elk Biologist Sam Moore, a long-time wildlife manager for the DNR in Hayward.

In addition to assuming the responsibility for field monitoring to the Clam Lake herd, the DNR held 6 public meetings throughout the state in September. The purpose of these meetings was to provide interested people with information on initial results of the research conducted by Dr. Anderson and his students from UW-SP, along with elk management issues and options. Although attendance was low, feedback was overwhelmingly in favor of elk restoration in Wisconsin.

After public meetings were held, the DNR began drafting a management plan and environmental assessment for the Clam Lake herd, along with a protocol for establishing new elk herds elsewhere in the state. Some of the issues discussed in the plan include management of elk in different areas, elk hunting seasons, responses to crop damage and nuisance elk complaints, predator management, elk protection, captive elk ranches, diseases, and possible impacts on recreationists, businesses, and other resources in the Clam Lake area. Some of these issues will undoubtedly spark controversy, but we are optimistic that elk restoration will continue to be a positive program providing numerous benefits to the citizens of Wisconsin.

Looking forward, the year 2000 will be an important one for elk in Wisconsin. In April, the Natural Resources Board will meet to decided whether to retain the Clam Lake herd. If the decision is “yes”, which all indications are it will be, the Board will also decided on whether or not to approve the management plan. If it is approved, the DNR will have a prescription for managing the herd that can then be implemented. Others areas of the state could then be formally considered for establishment of new herds using the protocol developed by the DNR, as well. In the meantime, the Clam Lake elk ill probably continue to thrive in their new environment, blissfully unaware of the excitement and confusion surrounding humanity as we enter the new millennium.

[Image: Courtesy of Flickr user Beige Alert]

The experimental wild elk in the Clam lake area continue to be monitored for their well- being this fall and winter as the Department of Natural Resource prepares a plan for maintaining them on the area’s public forest permanently.

Sam Moore, DNR wildlife biologist who is in charge of the Clam Lake elk project, said that those elk who were outfitted with radio transmitters are checked a few times per week. Their movements are also noted.

“So far, every indication we have is that their survival is good,” Moore said. “The calves survived well, and the adults are not running into any problems.” The herd is now believed to number around 60 animals.

Assisting Moore with the elk project are John Schmidt of Clam Lake, a UW-Stevens Point graduate student who continues to monitor the animals, and Andy Pils of Hayward, who is helping to write the draft management plan for the elk and the environmental assessment.

UW-SP emeritus professor Ray Anderson, who has directed the Elk Wisconsin study for the past five years, is finalizing his report and management recommendations.

A series of public meetings held in September and October showed that people are “interested in and supportive of having elk at Clam Lake,” Moore noted.

Prior to February, the Department will distribute a draft of the elk plan to interested parties and look for input, Moore said.

The DNR staff will present their elk management plan to the Natural Resources Board at its February meeting. The board will decide whether to retain the herd at Clam Lake.

If the board’s decision is positive, the staff will find-tune the plan with more specific management recommendations, Moore said.

As the elk herd grows, DNR staff will keep a close eye on what parts of the elk range the animals use, what types of habitat they prefer, and what their impacts are on other resources such as deer and vegetation, Moore added.

“Also, we have to determine the boundaries of the elk management area — where we want them to be,” he said. “If the elk wander outside of that area, they will be tolerated only if they stay out of trouble.”

The area elk have visited backyard deer feeders. But, said Moore, “We will try to discourage people from making a strong effort to feed the elk, simply because habituation (to humans) can be a problem , particularly with young animals.”

“We want to keep them wild,” he said. The core elk area is primarily public land, where there is less opportunity for elk to be fed, he noted.

About 88% of the elk remain in a small area of the Chequamegon National Forest near where they were released, just south of Clam Lake.

One group of elk has ranged to the east, in the Butternut-Park Falls area, and another group has ranged to the west, where they have been seen in the Moose Lake-Chief River-Round Lake-area. These animals don’t have radio tags, so “we can’t keep close track of them,” Moore said.

In February, Natural Resources Board members also will give their thoughts on having elk elsewhere in the state and may ask the staff to submit a protocol for that, Moore added.

Those groups who want elk in their area will be instructed as to the steps they should follow to pursue that goal, he said.

Bill Hunyadi is the Wisconsin field director for the Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation (RMEF) and a Hayward area resident.

He says that the RMEF has generated approximately $400,000 so far to assist the elk study near Clam Lake, and they plan to continue fundraising for the Wisconsin elk reintroduction effort. The majority of the money has been raised by the 19 RMEF chapters in the state, Hunyadi said.

The RMEF conducts a statewide big-time raffle which as raised close to $100,000 this year, Hunyadi said. The rest of the money is raised through a habitat partnership program. For a minimum donation of $2,500, the donor can earmark the donation for the Wisconsin elk project, he indicated.

The experimental wild elk in the Clam lake area continue to be monitored for their well- being this fall and winter as the Department of Natural Resource prepares a plan for maintaining them on the area’s public forest permanently.

Sam Moore, DNR wildlife biologist who is in charge of the Clam Lake elk project, said that those elk who were outfitted with radio transmitters are checked a few times per week. Their movements are also noted.

“So far, every indication we have is that their survival is good,” Moore said. “The calves survived well, and the adults are not running into any problems.” The herd is now believed to number around 60 animals.

Assisting Moore with the elk project are John Schmidt of Clam Lake, a UW-Stevens Point graduate student who continues to monitor the animals, and Andy Pils of Hayward, who is helping to write the draft management plan for the elk and the environmental assessment.

UW-SP emeritus professor Ray Anderson, who has directed the Elk Wisconsin study for the past five years, is finalizing his report and management recommendations.

A series of public meetings held in September and October showed that people are “interested in and supportive of having elk at Clam Lake,” Moore noted.

Prior to February, the Department will distribute a draft of the elk plan to interested parties and look for input, Moore said.

The DNR staff will present their elk management plan to the Natural Resources Board at its February meeting. The board will decide whether to retain the herd at Clam Lake.

If the board’s decision is positive, the staff will find-tune the plan with more specific management recommendations, Moore said.

As the elk herd grows, DNR staff will keep a close eye on what parts of the elk range the animals use, what types of habitat they prefer, and what their impacts are on other resources such as deer and vegetation, Moore added.

“Also, we have to determine the boundaries of the elk management area — where we want them to be,” he said. “If the elk wander outside of that area, they will be tolerated only if they stay out of trouble.”

The area elk have visited backyard deer feeders. But, said Moore, “We will try to discourage people from making a strong effort to feed the elk, simply because habituation (to humans) can be a problem , particularly with young animals.”

“We want to keep them wild,” he said. The core elk area is primarily public land, where there is less opportunity for elk to be fed, he noted.

About 88% of the elk remain in a small area of the Chequamegon National Forest near where they were released, just south of Clam Lake.

One group of elk has ranged to the east, in the Butternut-Park Falls area, and another group has ranged to the west, where they have been seen in the Moose Lake-Chief River-Round Lake-area. These animals don’t have radio tags, so “we can’t keep close track of them,” Moore said.

In February, Natural Resources Board members also will give their thoughts on having elk elsewhere in the state and may ask the staff to submit a protocol for that, Moore added.

Those groups who want elk in their area will be instructed as to the steps they should follow to pursue that goal, he said.

Bill Hunyadi is the Wisconsin field director for the Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation (RMEF) and a Hayward area resident.

He says that the RMEF has generated approximately $400,000 so far to assist the elk study near Clam Lake, and they plan to continue fundraising for the Wisconsin elk reintroduction effort. The majority of the money has been raised by the 19 RMEF chapters in the state, Hunyadi said.

The RMEF conducts a statewide big-time raffle which as raised close to $100,000 this year, Hunyadi said. The rest of the money is raised through a habitat partnership program. For a minimum donation of $2,500, the donor can earmark the donation for the Wisconsin elk project, he indicated.

[Image: Courtesy of Flickr user b_mccarley]

Four years of field data collection on the Wisconsin experimental elk herd was completed on 17 May 1999 but it was decided to determine elk productivity and monitor calf survivorship during the 1999 calving season to bolster the annual increment data base. Between 21 and 25 calves are destined to be born this year, depending upon the unknown pregnancy rate of yearling cows. A goal of radio-tagging 10 calves was established by the elk research team in consultation with the Wisconsin Elk Project Advisory Committee that was formed by The Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation. Approximately 50% of the calves that were born in the past 2 years have also been radio-tagged. Approximately one half of the elk mothers of 1999 are radio-tagged at this time. Some transmitters have failed (life expectancy = 3 years) and about 50% of the cows that were born in Wisconsin were not captured. Verifying births of the untagged cows will require much field-work; a final tally will not be available until late summer.

Pregnant radio-tagged cows, usually in small groups, are monitored daily during the calving season that reaches a peak during the first week in June after a 250-day gestation period. The cows have 20-day estrous cycles during the rut in mid-September with most being bred during the first cycle. A cow will isolate herself from others when she is ready to freshen. After 1 to 2 days of isolation they are cautiously approached in hopes of finding them near the calf. That area is searched diligently to find and hand-capture the camouflaged, immobile, and usually well hidden calf. It is quickly tagged, measured, weighed, and released at the capture site; the mother is never very far away.Ten births have been confirmed thus far this year and 10 calves (5 females, 5 males) have been captured or tagged. Other calves most certainly have also been born to untagged mothers during the past 2 weeks and calves that were conceived during the second estrous cycle last fall are destined to be born within this coming week. The remainder of the 1999 summer will be devoted to monitoring survivorship of radio-tagged calves and determining productivity of untagged cows. Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources (DNR) personnel have been present daily for calf capturing and tagging along with many volunteers and The Wisconsin Conservation Corp.

[Image: Courtesy of Flickr user Larry1732]

Elk Study Interim Progress Report – 30 April 1999

Two instances of canine predation of elk occurred within the past week on the study area. Evidence at the scenes of the kills indicated that the predator, in both instances, were wolves.

Elk No. 47, an 11-month-old female, was killed on 25 April 1999 between the Torch River and FS Rd 176.

Elk No. 44, an 11-month-old male, was killed approximately 0.5 mile from the No. 47 kill-site on 27 April 1999. This calf of 1998 was born of Cow No. 26, the first elk to be conceived and born in Wisconsin during this study.

Summary of known mortality among radio-tagged elk since calving in June 1998 (all but Nos. 44 and 47 were reported in earlier progress reports):

• No. 46 – male calf, killed at age 7 days by a bear
• No. 31 – yearling bull, accidental drowning
• No. 32 – yearling bull, automobile collision
• No. 43 – 9-month-old male, wolf predation
• No. 44 – 11-month-old male, wolf predation
• No. 47 – 11-month-old female, wolf predation

[Image: Courtesy of Flickr user Celtic Graphics]