This year’s crop of elk increased by 10 before even leaving the pen.
Courtesy MDC |
SUMMERSVILLE–Missouri’s
free-ranging elk herd got a boost Tuesday, as the Missouri Department
of Conservation (MDC) released 33 elk at Peck
Ranch Conservation Area (CA) in Carter County. Another release of 13
elk is planned for Saturday on neighboring land in the elk-restoration
zone.
In
May, MDC brought 35 elk from Kentucky and placed them in holding pens
at Peck Ranch CA. Since then, 11 of the elk cows have produced calves,
bringing the number of elk available for release this year to
46. Elk still in holding pens at Peck Ranch CA after the Tuesday
release will be taken to land owned by The Nature Conservancy and
released to the wild on Saturday.
“Eastern elk herds often have small home ranges,” says
Elk
Restoration Program Coordinator Ron Dent. “Our goal with moving a small
group of elk to The Nature Conservancy’s property is to form a nucleus
in the center of the restoration zone.”
MDC launched the elk-restoration program in 2011, when it brought 34 elk from Kentucky.
Dent says this
year’s releases will bring Missouri’s free-ranging elk population to
approximately 80. In addition, MDC biologists expect the
majority of last year’s cows to bear young this year.
“The
elk in the holding pen look very healtlhy,” says Dent. “In fact, some
of the animals gained weight while in the holding pen in Kentucky. A
mild winter, modifications to the holding pen in
Kentucky and excellent care by MDC caretakers hired to look after the elk have left the animals in very good condition.”
Courtesy MDC |
Hot,
dry weather has reduced the movement of free-ranging elk. Dent says
they are making use of natural forage available in shady portions of the
221,000-acre elk-restoration zone in Shannon, Carter and Reynolds
counties.
“The
type of GPS collar we are using doesn’t allow us to know where the
animals are every minute of the day,” says Dent. “That was never their
purpose. But we do know from periodic position reports that elk
spend the majority of their time on food plots and in open woodlands at
Peck Ranch. They are even coming back to holding pens.”
The
12,000-acre central refuge area of Peck Ranch CA currently is closed to
the public to minimize disturbance of cow-calf pairs as they settle
into their new surroundings. The portion of Peck Ranch CA outside
the marked refuge fence remains open to hunting and other activities.
Dent said MDC will announce the reopening of the refuge some time in
July.
Missouri’s
elk-restoration program has relied heavily on partnerships with other
government agencies and citizen conservation groups. Major funding has
come from the Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation (RMEF), whose
volunteers also have provided substantial assistance with labor to
build holding pens at Peck Ranch CA. The Big Game Hunters Foundation
also has donated funds for the project.
MDC
also is working with landowners in and around the elk-restoration zone
to increase the quality of habitat for elk and other wildlife. Workshops
and cost-share programs are designed to help landowners who
want elk on their property. Such habitat work on public and private
land will continue to be a priority for MDC as elk restoration
progresses.
More information about elk restoration in Missouri is available at
go.usa.gov/VoX.
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