Environmental groups want Wyoming elk to starve
Five conservation groups have filed suit in federal court to stop the US Fish and Wildlife Service from feeding elk in Wyoming's National Elk Refuge during the winter.
(Page 2 of 2)
The environmental groups contend that the feedings create an ideal environment for the transmission of chronic wasting disease, considered fatal to elk, moose, and deer, as well as brucellosis, a bacterial infection believed to cause spontaneous abortion in cattle.Skip to next paragraph
Subscribe Today to the Monitor
On Tuesday, the Monitor reported that 4,700 bison have been slaughtered in the past six months in a controversial plan to prevent them from infecting beef cattle with brucellosis.
The Associated Press notes that the practice of feeding the elk began a century ago, when homesteaders sought to keep elk from starving after cattle herds had eaten much of the grass. Last winter, some 8,300 elk and 920 bison ate more than 8.4 million pounds of alfalfa pellets – the equivalent of 175 semitrailer loads of feed.
Wyoming’s economy would be affected by ending the feeding of elk at the refuge, which has become a tourist attraction. Last winter more than 25,000 people paid $16 each to ride on sleighs pulled by horses among herds of elk on snow-covered landscapes. In addition, ranchers do not want hungry wild elk competing with their cattle for food, and hunting outfitters want assurances that plenty of animals will be available for their clients to stalk.
According to the AP story, hunting groups have been pressuring the Interior Department to continue the feedings:
Bob Wharff, executive director of Wyoming Sportsmen for Fish and Wildlife, said an abrupt end to feeding could have negative consequences.
"There comes a point where you don't feed them and they get to a weakened state. They'd get far more susceptible [to disease]," he said.
Wharff said a study done for his organization several years ago indicated elk populations would decline by 60 to 80 percent if feeding stopped.
"I don't think anybody is going to sit back and let them all starve to death," he added.
[via KSJ Tracker]
Update: Be sure to read the first comment from Sophie Osborn, a wildlife biologist for the Wyoming Outdoor Council, one of the plaintiffs in the suit. She correctly points out that the plaintiffs are not calling for a sudden halt to the feedings, but rather a five-year phase out.