Elk research continues
by Wyoming Game & Fish
February 26, 2015
Pinedale personnel in the Game and Fish Department’s Brucellosis-Feedgrounds Habitat (BFH) program spent much of January capturing elk using both corral traps and chemical immobilization at several area elk feedgrounds.
Adult cow elk were fitted with GPS collars to document finescale movements and also Vaginal Implant Transmitters to identify elk parturition, or calving areas.
Approximately 250 elk have been trapped at Fall Creek, Dell Creek and Alpine feedgrounds, and an additional 30 elk were darted from a haysled at 10 different feedgrounds this winter. Data were downloaded and will be used to continue multi-agency studies on feedground elk ecology.
The collars will be refurbished with new batteries and drop-off mechanisms and redeployed this winter to continue to collect GPS data on elk. The Game and Fish Department’s BFH program personnel, with collaborators from Iowa State University and the University of Wyoming, have collected over 500 years worth of GPS collar data from elk captured on 20 feedgrounds and seven native winter range sites adjacent to feedgrounds from 2007 to 2015.
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