Locksley
Well-Known Member
CATALOOCHEE � Managers at the Great Smoky Mountains National Park this year will decide what to do with the elk herd in Cataloochee Valley now that the reintroduction project's experimental phase has ended.
The park says the herd is now about 100 animals with more calves than ever expected this spring.
The project started in 2001 with 25 animals and a cost of about $1 million. The money was donated from the Friends of the Smokies and the Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation. The animals came from Kentucky and Canada.
The project originally was set to end in 2005. The park agreed to extend the experiment three years after the University of Tennessee, which is studying the herd, decided more data was needed to predict its long-term chances.
Elk once were common in the Smokies and the rest of the southern Appalachians. Hunting and habitat loss eradicated them by the early 19th century.
Park spokesman Ranger Bob Miller said the park will use an environmental assessment, which will include public input, to make a decision on the herd's future.
The assessment will offer a prediction on the potential for the herd to go extinct, which Miller called �a real remote possibility barring some huge pandemic that we don't expect.�
The elk have generated a following beyond the scientists and park managers studying them.
In 2003, two years after releasing the animals, the park saw a 50 percent increase in visitors to Cataloochee with 214,000 people.
Elk watchers line the edges of the fields with lawn chairs, cameras, binoculars and coolers to wait for the animals to emerge from the woods during the fall mating season. Cars often clog the one-lane dirt road.
The elk are on hats and T-shirts sold in tourist shops.
Two years ago, the park put together a volunteer team dubbed the Elk Bugle Corps to teach visitors about safely viewing the large and often unpredictable animals. It has become one of the park's most-popular volunteer programs.
Seven calves have been born so far this year, said Joe Yarkovich, who is studying the herd for the park.
He said two are females and managers haven't been able to get close enough to the others yet to determine their genders.
Yarkovich said many more calves will be born in the next month or so.
Four bulls have die since December.
Park managers had to kill a fifth bull that was suffering from rapid weight loss.
Bull No. 4, known for his short antlers with a paddle-shaped formation at the top, became too weak to walk and was euthanized after a veterinarian determined he would not recover.
Yarkovich said the deaths are normal when compared to other years in the program.
�All of the data is very encouraging,� he said about the future of the herd.
Miller said the variety of causes of deaths is a good indicator that the herd is doing well. The elk have died from parasites, injuries, vehicle strikes, old age and predators such black bears, which attack newborns.
�If we were seeing a pattern of heavy losses, due to a single cause, it would ring a warning bell,� he said.
The park could make several decisions about the herd. It could remove the animals, let them live on their own with no management or continue a management plan.
Miller said the cost of the herd would depend on the level of management.
The park will have a public comment period on its elk herd environmental assessment, which has not yet been completed.
http://www.citizen-times.com/apps/pbcs. ... /906150310
The park says the herd is now about 100 animals with more calves than ever expected this spring.
The project started in 2001 with 25 animals and a cost of about $1 million. The money was donated from the Friends of the Smokies and the Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation. The animals came from Kentucky and Canada.
The project originally was set to end in 2005. The park agreed to extend the experiment three years after the University of Tennessee, which is studying the herd, decided more data was needed to predict its long-term chances.
Elk once were common in the Smokies and the rest of the southern Appalachians. Hunting and habitat loss eradicated them by the early 19th century.
Park spokesman Ranger Bob Miller said the park will use an environmental assessment, which will include public input, to make a decision on the herd's future.
The assessment will offer a prediction on the potential for the herd to go extinct, which Miller called �a real remote possibility barring some huge pandemic that we don't expect.�
The elk have generated a following beyond the scientists and park managers studying them.
In 2003, two years after releasing the animals, the park saw a 50 percent increase in visitors to Cataloochee with 214,000 people.
Elk watchers line the edges of the fields with lawn chairs, cameras, binoculars and coolers to wait for the animals to emerge from the woods during the fall mating season. Cars often clog the one-lane dirt road.
The elk are on hats and T-shirts sold in tourist shops.
Two years ago, the park put together a volunteer team dubbed the Elk Bugle Corps to teach visitors about safely viewing the large and often unpredictable animals. It has become one of the park's most-popular volunteer programs.
Seven calves have been born so far this year, said Joe Yarkovich, who is studying the herd for the park.
He said two are females and managers haven't been able to get close enough to the others yet to determine their genders.
Yarkovich said many more calves will be born in the next month or so.
Four bulls have die since December.
Park managers had to kill a fifth bull that was suffering from rapid weight loss.
Bull No. 4, known for his short antlers with a paddle-shaped formation at the top, became too weak to walk and was euthanized after a veterinarian determined he would not recover.
Yarkovich said the deaths are normal when compared to other years in the program.
�All of the data is very encouraging,� he said about the future of the herd.
Miller said the variety of causes of deaths is a good indicator that the herd is doing well. The elk have died from parasites, injuries, vehicle strikes, old age and predators such black bears, which attack newborns.
�If we were seeing a pattern of heavy losses, due to a single cause, it would ring a warning bell,� he said.
The park could make several decisions about the herd. It could remove the animals, let them live on their own with no management or continue a management plan.
Miller said the cost of the herd would depend on the level of management.
The park will have a public comment period on its elk herd environmental assessment, which has not yet been completed.
http://www.citizen-times.com/apps/pbcs. ... /906150310
