Podcasts & RSS Feeds

cattleRSS
All ContentRSS
View all podcasts & RSS feeds

Tagged: cattle

Pages

Elk restoration
4:18 pm
Thu June 2, 2011

Elk released from holding pen, some with new calves

Share
E-mail
Comments
By

The elk brought to Missouri early last month as part of a restoration project have been released from their holding pen.

The Missouri Department of Conservation released the 34 elk along with five newborn calves on Wednesday.

The adult elk and calves have been fitted with GPS radio collars as part of a cooperative research project with the University of Missouri-Columbia. The collars will help researchers track the elk's health, movement patterns and preferred types of vegetation.

Read more
Elk Reintroduction
2:48 pm
Fri April 29, 2011

Elk reintroduction: a different kind of Missouri comeback

Next imagePrevious image
Credit (Véronique LaCapra, St. Louis Public Radio)
Missouri’s elk are being released on the Peck Ranch Conservation area, north of Fremont, Mo.
Credit (Véronique LaCapra, St. Louis Public Radio)
Bobby Simpson raises Angus cattle on his ranch near the Meramec River, about 6 miles outside of Salem. He and other ranchers fear that elk will damage cattle fences and compete with livestock for forage.
Credit (Véronique LaCapra, St. Louis Public Radio)
The Missouri legislature is considering making the MDC financially responsible for any damage caused by wild elk, and allowing ranchers and other landowners to kill any elk that damages their property.
Credit (Missouri Department of Conservation)
Of the 49 elk captured in Kentucky, one had to be released, and another 14 have died from injuries, pneumonia, or capture-related stress. Thirty-four cows, calves, and yearling bulls remain.
Credit (Missouri Department of Conservation)
In Kentucky, the elk have tested free of diseases including brucellosis, chronic wasting disease, and bovine tuberculosis. MDC staff say there are no cases of eastern elk transmitting diseases to cattle.
Credit (Véronique LaCapra, St. Louis Public Radio)
Once they arrive at Peck Ranch, the elk will be kept in these pens for at least two weeks to allow them to recover from the stress of transportation and get used to their new environment.
Credit (Véronique LaCapra, St. Louis Public Radio)
The MDC manages vegetation at Peck Ranch with selective logging and controlled burns. The created clearings are planted with crimson clover, wheat, alfalfa, orchard grass – all favorite food for elk.
Credit (Missouri Department of Conservation)
MDC resource scientist and cervid biologist Jason Sumners holds GPS radio collars that will be used to track the adult cows (left) and calves after they are released.
Share
E-mail
Comments
By

You can also see photos of the elk and find out more about the reintroduction above. And, for more information about  the elk restoration efforts prior to their arrival in Missouri, see the video below the story text.

Starting tomorrow*, elk will be back in Missouri. They haven’t been here since the mid-1800s, when hunting and habitat loss drove eastern elk to extinction.

States from Arkansas to Pennsylvania have since reestablished their elk populations. And now Missouri is trying to do the same.

But not everyone is happy about the state’s elk reintroduction plans.

Read more

Pages