Wild elk Federation/SRD/Elk island Pk.

[duffy4]

About 81 adult elk left Elk Island Nat. Pk. today in the back of several stock trailers pulled by Wild Elk Ferderation volunteers. They were headed to a location picked out by SRD in Clearwater Area.

With a combination of the planned wolf control program and more elk reintroductions SRD is trying to rebuild elk populations in the west country.

Have a good one, elk hunters!

Robin in Rocky

[Duk Dog]

Good on them. That is quite a pile of elk they are moving.

I'm not positive, but I don't think there is much in the way of predators in Elk Island Park? Obviously in their soon to be new homes there are cougars, wolves, and bears. Do they have any idea historically how the transplanted elk fare in their new surroundings?

[mud slug]

i've been told that there are 2 cougars and 1 black bear in the park.

[Brady]

Originally Posted by Duk Dog

Good on them. That is quite a pile of elk they are moving.

I'm not positive, but I don't think there is much in the way of predators in Elk Island Park? Obviously in their soon to be new homes there are cougars, wolves, and bears. Do they have any idea historically how the transplanted elk fare in their new surroundings?

From all the urban legends out there, I would think the two legged predators give these elk a harder time then the four legged ones. They are prolly gonna lose a few to the wolves, but you would think that their instincts would kick in rather quickly, otherwise they prolly wouldn't set them loose out there. I could be wrong though......

[sjd]

SRD tried this before - and the result was up to 75% mortality in the first year, evenly split between hunters and wolves.

Both these relocations and wolf kills/sterilizations strike me at clutching at straws and that SRD is managing the symptoms, not the root causes.

I would prefer to see habitat and access management, including burns, road closures and reducing the amount of cutlines that we know wolves use.

I'm getting nervous that hunters are getting painted as part of the problem and we need to take a more big picture view rather than "keep shipping us tame elk and shooting wolves".

Just some ideas to kick around

[duffy4]

Originally Posted by sjd

SRD tried this before - and the result was up to 75% mortality in the first year, evenly split between hunters and wolves.

Both these relocations and wolf kills/sterilizations strike me at clutching at straws and that SRD is managing the symptoms, not the root causes.

I would prefer to see habitat and access management, including burns, road closures and reducing the amount of cutlines that we know wolves use.

I'm getting nervous that hunters are getting painted as part of the problem and we need to take a more big picture view rather than "keep shipping us tame elk and shooting wolves".

Just some ideas to kick around

Not sure where you got your 75% mortality?

However that don't sound too bad to me. So if hunters harvested 37% of the released elk that's a good thing, that is partly why they were released. And if wolves ate 37% then they did not eat that many wild elk that were there (the wolves were going to eat some one) That is a good thing. And 25% were left to drop calves and contribute to the wild population which was a big part of the plan.

Also you must realize that sometimes surplus elk from Elk Island become avalible for SRD to relocate. What should SRD do? say no we don't want them just shoot them at the park???

SRD and the wild elk boys are not so dumb as to think they can just shoot some wolves and release some elk and everything will be rosie. They are involved in Habitat projects (some changes in the way the ACA operates could help here) and access management and trying to lessen the impact of the feverish industrial development in Alberta.

Have a good one!

Robin in Rocky

[Duk Dog]

I would prefer to see habitat and access management, including burns, road closures and reducing the amount of cutlines that we know wolves use.

SRD and the wild elk boys are not so dumb as to think they can just shoot some wolves and release some elk and everything will be rosie. They are involved in Habitat projects (some changes in the way the ACA operates could help here) and access management and trying to lessen the impact of the feverish industrial development in Alberta.

You both have hit the nail on the head with what is causing so many problems for a wide variety of wildlife in this province. It is always a double edged sword, but development of all kinds (especially industrial) is causing lots of grief.

Again I say kudos to these groups for moving the surplus elk. There certainly are both states and other provinces that are greatful for them.

[Grizzly Adams]

This is all very good and nice, but my feeling is that these releases shouldn't be publicised, until well after the fact. It's not just the wolves putting a dent in our elk populations and we don't need a convoy of our Native Bretheren from Saddle lake waiting for the trailer doors to open. Did I mis something? I thought The Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation handled this kind of stuff.
Grizz

[Brady]

Grizz, the RMEF, pulled their ship out of Canada a couple years ago. A bunch of the guys that were involved started up their own WILD ELK FED. and are accepting memberships. I think they are trying to do the same kind of work that RMEF did, but all the dollars stay in Canada from what I believe.

I agree with you though, these releases should not be publicized until well after the fact. IMO

[Duk Dog]

http://www.wildelkfederation.ca/

[Alberta Bigbore]

Originally Posted by mud slug

i've been told that there are 2 cougars and 1 black bear in the park.

thats wmu936, that shares the big fence of elk island. Confirmed cougar den, and 2 cougars as of last year anyways, as well as a confirmed blackie sighting. maybe a litter of cougars this year???

but there are no elk, moose or whitetails in wmu936, so just hunt elsewhere, and leave the waste of a walk to me

[Okotokian]

Originally Posted by sjd

SRD tried this before - and the result was up to 75% mortality in the first year, evenly split between hunters and wolves.

Not sure what you can do about the the wolves, but if you transplant animals and then let hunters kill 37.5% of them in the first year, seems a collosal waste of taxpayer money. Why the hell do it?

[Duk Dog]

Ask places such as Ontario, Pennsylvania, Kentucky etc. why they should relocate the elk. You've got an over abundance of elk within Elk Island National Park that you need to do something with. Option A you could do a cull, or Option B you can relocate the elk to a number of locations around Canada and the USA. I know which one gets my vote. I'm not so sure it is tax payers money, I believe it is money raised through fund raising by the Wild Elk Federation as well as the RMEF and other conservation organizations, combined with time and energy by groups of volunteers.

[Rust]

The re-location does not sound all that bad to me. If 25% of the elk survive there are that many more calves, plus the herd already in the area has a 75% higher survival rate that yr then, Right?????
Anyways I think it is good.

[300 wsm]

I think its a real good plan to relocate elk

Originally Posted by Duk Dog

Do they have any idea historically how the transplanted elk fare in their new surroundings?

I don't know how transplanted elk have done elsewhere, but the ones that were moved to Suffield have thrived. The original 200 (thereabouts) have turned into over 2000 in the decade or so since they moved the wild horses out and put the elk in. This is, of course, almost like moving them into a park since they are protected and have no predators that I can think of except an errant shell from the military exercises. I imagine they are starting to reach carrying capacity and might be a stockpile that future transplants could come from.

Good on the boys for starting the new elk group. More power to them!

[BrianWiley]

It is nothing more than a feed the wolf program.If the once RMEF would not have trapped and moved over 1200 elk from the YaHa Tinda over the past few years ,(in co-operation with the govt biologists)elk that "MIGRATED",yes they did, to the Clear Water would still be in the area .It's kind of like they said oh oh we better put some back befor somebody notices.I also believe the put some in last year also .I'll check on that .
Anybody ever actually hear what happened to the RMEF in Alberta ?
Just wondering why they are no more nad the new Federation is now upon us with most of the same people involved .
Maybe we can get some back in the Panther River cause there was 0 on the fly counts again this year .

[Rust]

Where can a guy find the "fly count" info? Or do some of you guys just know the right ppl or are the right ppl? If it is open to the public I would be interested to see it. Thanks