Gunnery Network
Elk in the Smoky Mountains
Majestic Manitoban Elk to be released in the Carolina's
wapiti - elk - stag
Written by Marvin V. Stenhammar - Updated 15 January 2001
Elk Photography by Russ Morton - Piedmont Chapter RMEF
www.GunneryNetwork.com
Gunnery Network
Elk in the Smoky Mountains
Majestic Manitoban Elk to be released in the
Carolina's
wapiti - elk - stag
Written by Marvin V. Stenhammar - Updated
15 January 2001
Elk Photography by Russ Morton -
Piedmont Chapter RMEF
| UPDATE: The Tennessee Elk release went according to plan and the herd is in good shape. The North Carolina Elk Release went according to plan and we again have Elk in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. |
|
Dateline Gunnery Network News - 15 December 2000 --- In the near future, you may be able to view majestic Manitoba Elk and take pictures of these beautiful animals in the Great Smoky Mountains of North Carolina, Tennessee, and Virginia. The Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation, in conjunction with federal and state wildlife management agencies, is working to re-introduce elk into the Great Smoky Mountains National Park and the Cumberland Plateau Area of Tennessee. Two separate elk releases are scheduled, one in Tennessee's eastern mountains and one in North Carolina's western mountains, with additional elk being brought into both areas over the next few years. The Tennessee elk herd, of approximately 50 animals, is scheduled for a 17 December release. The transplanted elk will be set free in the wilds of the Cumberland Plateau Area. The Cumberland Plateau cuts across Tennessee roughly midway between Knoxville and Nashville. The southern part is divided by the Sequatchie Valley. The elevation cools the sultry southern summers, but the winters remain mild. There are over 100 miles of trails on 12,000 acres. It is not very populated and it is a wonderful area for white water, hiking and camping, as well as a very agreeable area for elk and wildlife overall. The Tennessee release is what the Elk Foundation calls a "Hard Release" as the animals will be release directly into the wild without an enclosure or a transition area. This marks the first time elk have roamed the Cumberland Gap since 1865. The area has been studied at length and has been deemed suitable for reintroduction of a large elk heard. The Tennessee herd is a reintroduction program, unlike the Carolina herd which is an experimental release program. |
Tar Heel Elk
The Great Smoky National Park or GSMNP is in the states of North Carolina and Tennessee and encompasses 800 square miles of which 95 percent are forested. GSMNP is world renowned for the diversity of its plant and animal resources, the beauty of its ancient mountains, the quality of its remnants of Southern Appalachian mountain culture and the depth and integrity of the wilderness sanctuary within its boundaries. Rife with curvy mountain roads, green meadows, giant rhododendron, tiny mountain laurel, wonderful water falls and abundant wild life, the Smoky Mountains National Park is one of the largest protected areas in the eastern United States. A recent biological survey concluded that there is more biodiversity in this small area than in all of Europe and new fauna and flora are discovered often. Technology Aided "Soft Release" This so-called "soft release" involves keeping the herd in a defined area for study and evaluation. Over a period of 2 or 3 months the elk will be allowed to leave the enclosure for longer periods of time, but will have food and water provided in the enclosure. The elk enclosure is actually a large acclimation pen, where the gates will eventually be left open to let the herd come and go. This method of release gives the animals time to adapt to the area and allows wildlife managers to study and observe the herd. The "soft release" method includes radio tracking collars and close monitoring of the herd by state and federal wildlife officials. The radio collars allow tracking of any elk by vehicle, aircraft and even by satellite. The tracking allows game managers to find elk that leave the designated area so they can be returned to the elk habitat. It also allows wildlife managers to evaluate migration and movement data. Soft release or not, I am happy to report that we will finally have elk back on North Carolina soil. Research has shown that soft release animals tend to have less movement and stay closer to the introduction area, which is important in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park due to its size and proximity to populated areas. These majestic animals will gradually be released into the National Park area. It is hoped that by the spring of 2001 the Carolina herd will be roaming free in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park, just in time for the spring grasses and other succulent and healthy food sources. Reintroduction Program - Experimental Release Program Kim De Lozier, of the National Park Service, stated that in the case of the Carolina elk herd, "this is an experimental release and not a reintroduction". He added "The Carolina herd will be closely monitored for diseases and to determine their suitability for reintroduction into the park's ecosystem." He also stated that the Carolina elk herd will consist of approximately 25 animals, with a viable mix of mature bulls and cows, as well as juveniles and calves of both sexes. An additional 25 elk per year will be released in to the park over the next 3 to 5 years. The experimental release and evaluation period will last 5 years and if successful a full scale reintroduction program will follow. De Lozier told Gunnery Network News that "these elk were selected for their general fitness, good reproductive health and low susceptibility to disease and parasites." The elk selected for the park will be brought in from the Land Between the Lakes, a U.S. Forest Service wildlife area in Western Kentucky. The elk have been living in a 700 acre enclosure since 1996, when they were brought in from Elk Island National Park near Edmonton, Alberta Canada. Elk Island is the Alberta plains oasis for rare and endangered species. It was set aside in 1906 to protect a herd of only 20 elk and today is home for thousands of elk as well as bison, moose, bear, beaver, and coyote that all live in the rolling hills and stands of aspen. Next years animals will come directly from Elk Island in Canada. |
The Elk Island herd was specifically chosen because they are know to be disease free and are also very hearty. They are Manitoban Elk which are closely related to the Eastern Elk that became extinct in the Appalachians about 150 years ago. Elk have not lived in the Carolina's since the late 1790's and were hunted out of the Cumberland Plateau area of Tennessee in 1865. In addition to Manitoba Elk, North America has 3 other species, Rocky Mountain, Tule and the large racked Roosevelt Elk. Kim De Lozier stated that "elk are very adaptable and though many people think they are browsers, they are actually generalists and both browse and graze depending on their habitat and seasonal changes to vegetation." "Elk lived in this habitat for thousands of years, and we are optimistic that this experimental release will be successful." He went on to add that the National Park Service has a mandate to evaluate the various species that once thrived in the Smoky Mountains and to facilitate the reintroduction of indigenous species that are deemed suitable. The Park has successfully reintroduced the Peregrine Falcon, the River Otter and the Barn Owl. Only the Red Wolf reintroduction program was unsuccessful.
On the west coast, once down to only a few individuals, California's 7,500 elk now live in locations from the foggy coastal ranges to the hot and sunny central valleys. For the first time in decades, elk can be seen on the prairie between Denver and Colorado Springs where they were abundant before human settlement. Prior to the 1800s, elk ranged throughout North America, except Alaska and Florida. Today, elk live in the following states and Canadian provinces: United States: Alaska, Arizona, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Idaho, Kansas, Kentucky, Michigan, Minnesota, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New Mexico, North Dakota, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, South Dakota, Texas, Utah, Washington, Wisconsin and Wyoming. Canadian Provinces: Alberta, British Columbia, Manitoba, Northwest Territories, Ontario, Saskatchewan and Yukon Territory. |
Hunters Play Key Role in Management Hunters play a key role in achieving the goals of reintroduction and have helped to ensure the return of elk in North America. The fees from hunting licenses and sportsmen fund most of the wildlife management in America. Hunting has been used as an elk management technique to keep the number of elk in balance with their habitat. The Wichita Mountains Wildlife Refuge in Oklahoma is now home to 500 elk, the maximum number that this small remnant of wild prairie can support. In the absence of natural predators, refuge managers use hunting to balance the elk population with the prairie resource. Predation in the Smokies will be from black bear, coyote and bobcat which may take a few calves or sick elk but do not pose a risk to healthy adolescent or adult elk. With a small herd, it will be several years before a viable elk herd exists in the Smoky Mountains, capable of supporting any hunting activities. Hunting is not allowed in the Great Smoky Mountain National Park, and North Carolina State Wildlife officials are initially categorizing elk as non-sporting game. They may also be listed as a special threatened species, to discourage poaching and to stiffen fines as well as administrative and judicial punishments for the unlawful hunting of elk. Ancestors and Cousins North American Elk are the descendants of Asian Red Deer that entered North America long before humans did, perhaps as early as 120,000 years ago when water became locked in ice sheets and ocean levels dropped creating a land bridge between Asia and North America. They came into a land with plenty of room and abundant food. In the past, biologists believed that the elk developed into a separate species from the red deer. Most biologists now consider all the elk in North America to be the same species as the red deer in Asia and Europe. In Europe and most of the world, the word "Elk" is used to describe moose (Alces alces). The name elk is used only in North America to designate a different animal, the WAPITI. The American elk are called Wapiti to distinguish them from European red deer. |
Wapiti What? Elk are Cervus Canadensis and are properly called Wapiti. Pronounced Wap·i·ti. The plural is wapiti or wapitis. Described as a large light brown or grayish-brown North American deer having long, branching antlers. Also called American elk. The coat is typically grayish brown, with a chestnut mane and a yellowish rump. Elk are ungulates or "hoofed" animals and are close cousins of the moose, caribou, white-tailed deer and mule deer. All elk belonging to the order Artiodactyla and to the deer family know as Cervidae. They belong to the genus Cervus and are of the species Elaphus. All ungulates have hooves and this large group used to be considered one order, but now "ungulates" refers to two distinct orders. The two orders of ungulates are Artiodactyla and Perissodactyla. The number of toes is the most obvious difference between the orders. Artiodactyls include elk, deer, bison, pronghorn sheep or antelope and peccary and have an even number of toes. Perissodactyls like horses, elephants have an odd number of toes. As ruminants (of or relating to a suborder Ruminantia) they chew the cud and have a complex four-chambered stomach. Like other ungulates, members of the elk family are herbivores -- they eat only plants. Their diet may include grasses, forbs (low-growing, short-stemmed plants), shrubs and trees (including limbs and bark). Members of the elk family must eat and watch for predators at the same time. Elk fulfill these double needs by gathering in herds. In a group of elk, at least one animal is looking up while others are eating. Even the animals that are feeding are constantly twitching and turning their ears to listen for unusual or warning sounds.
Deer and elk share the same habitat types and some of the same food. During the summer, they seldom compete because food is usually abundant and elk prefer to feed in the middle of large meadows while deer stay near the edges. In the fall, however, they may compete with deer for food, because then they eat more of the same plants in the same places. During a long winter, all herbivores compete for sparse food. In such cases elk often fare better than deer because they move more easily through deep snow, can reach higher vegetation, and are able to eat a wider variety of plants. With four distinct season in the Smoky Mountains and by comparison relatively mild winters, our Carolina elk herd is expected to thrive.
On top of every bull's head are two pedicles -- bones shaped like cups and covered with skin. Antlers grow out of these pedicles. Once testosterone hardens the bond, the antlers are locked into the pedicles so tightly that a bull could bear the weight of ten bowling balls from each antler and the antlers wouldn't budge. Bull elk antlers weigh up to 40 pounds for the pair (18 kg). After the antlers are cast, the pedicles bleed a little, but they soon heal. The cycle begins again as a new set of antlers sprout from the pedicles. |
|
|
|
Where we are - Where we are going Today, elk number about 1 million in North America. This represents roughly 10 percent of the estimated population before European settlement of North America. Although elk will probably never return to their historic numbers nor to all of their historic range, far more elk inhabit the United States than at any other time in the last 100 years. Government agencies, nonprofit organizations, and private landowners are working together to ensure a secure future for elk. For example, five government agencies and nonprofit groups pooled their resources to purchase thousands of acres of migration routes and prime winter range north of Yellowstone National Park. This land, which had been privately owned, could have been subdivided and developed. Instead, it remains intact habitat for the world's largest migratory herd of elk.
Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation - RMEF It must be stressed that foremost of the organizations working in the effort to reintroduce elk in the Smoky Mountains and the rest of North America, is the Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation, and specifically the Piedmont Chapter of the Elk Foundation in North Carolina. The Elk Foundation dedicates its resources and energy toward protecting elk and elk habitat. Since its beginning in 1984, the non-profit organization and its members have protected and enhanced thousands and thousands of acres of critical elk habitat. RMEF's actions also ensure habitat protection for other animals that share the same resources. Many other nonprofit groups, local and national, also direct their programs toward protecting habitat for wildlife. If you are still reading this report, you should consider joining or making a donation to the Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation. |
With the hard work and dedication of groups like the Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation, our state and federal wildlife managers, concerned citizens and hunters, the new elk herds in the Smoky Mountains will thrive and reestablish this great and majestic animal in the Smoky Mountains. Gunnery Network happily welcomes "Carolina Elk" back to their Smoky Mountain home. Please consider joining or making a donation to the Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation.
Written by Marvin V.
Stenhammar Photography: Russ Morton Special Thanks to Kim De Lozier of the National Park Service for information and support. |
|
|
|
|
|
|
