Low Bull Elk Count Causes Researchers To Start Telemetry Study

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. - The Ozarks population of re-introduced elk seems to be missing bull elk. Researchers at the University of Arkansas are collaborating with state and federal wildlife agencies to determine the causes of the decline. Don White, Jr., assistant professor at the University of Arkansas-Monticello, William Thompson, assistant unit leader for the Arkansas Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Unit at the University of Arkansas-Fayetteville, Michael Cartwright, Wildlife Biologist for the Arkansas Game and Fish Commission, and Sam Lail, Natural Resource Manager for the Buffalo National River, will be studying bull elk survival, causes of mortality, and habitat use in the Buffalo River watershed beginning this month.

To better understand bull elk ecology in general and to discover the cause of the decline in the number of bull elk in particular, a professional wildlife capture company, Hawkins and Powers Aviation, from Greybull, Wyo., will be netting and darting bull elk from a helicopter beginning February 17. Radio-collars will be placed on each captured elk to track elk movement patterns and assist researchers in determining causes of mortality.

"The main objective of this research is to determine the causes of bull elk mortality in the Buffalo River watershed. When we know what the causes of mortality are, we can then develop a management plan to mitigate the losses," said White. "Ideally, we will capture an equal number of calves, yearlings and adult bulls, perhaps 20 in each age category. But in reality, we don't know how difficult it is going to be to capture elk in a predominately forested environment, so we will take whatever we can get," White said.

The researchers use radio-telemetry to tell them when and where elk mortalities occur. When an elk dies the radio transmitter attached to the collar emits a signal at twice the pulse rate it did when the animal was alive. When the researchers pick up the mortality signal as they locate their collared elk from an airplane, they will hike in as soon as possible to locate the carcass and determine the cause of death.

"To identify the possible causes of mortality, you have to examine the carcass as soon after the animal dies as possible," White said. In the mild conditions of the Ozarks, scavengers, insects and bacteria decompose the animal’s remains quickly, erasing the evidence needed to identify the cause of death, Thompson said.

The researchers have several theories that may explain why the number of bulls may have declined, including natural predation, disease and poaching by humans. But they need evidence to support their theories--including information on the animal’s age, physical condition and location at the time of death.

The study will continue through 2006.

Eastern elk, a subspecies of North American elk, once roamed the Ozark Mountains, but became extinct in the 1840s in Arkansas due to over-hunting. In the early 1980s, the Arkansas Game and Fish Commission transplanted 112 elk from Nebraska and Colorado to try to re-introduce elk to the landscape. The population has grown to approximately 400-450. A limited hunting season opened in Arkansas in 1998.

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