Missouri Dept. of Conservation Scientist Lonni Hansen recently discussed the Elk restoration efffort initiated earlier this year....Kentucky Elk are the source for this rewilding effort and at this time only hunting is being prescribed as an eventual control agent, once the herd matriculates to a population size researchers deem stable...........150 animals in all will be imported from Kentucky as the last wild elk herds blinked out at the end of the Civil War..........Would it not be nice to see 15 breeding pairs of wolves and a similar number of Cougars also brought into the "Show Me State" once the Elk find their footing? ................ Perhaps one day, it will not just be the hoofed browsers restored to the landscape...........The landscape demands carnivores if it is to optimize its health!!!!!

MDC scientist discusses elk

Missouri's first shipment of wild elk arrived from Kentucky earlier this year and were released onto Peck Ranch Conservation area in south eastern Missouri.  Since that time, not much has been heard about the overall restoration effort, it's future and the current elk, now roaming the Show-Me State.

Realizing the importance of this subject, The National Audubon Society took it upon itself to invite Missouri Department of Conservation Resource Scientist Lonnie Hansen to the campus of Missouri Western to discuss the details of this important project at a public forum
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Overall, MDC transplanted 15 adult cows, five female calves, six yearling bulls and eight male calves in Missouri. Officials hope to transfer about 150 in total. The next transfer from Kentucky will take place next spring and should consist of about 35 animals. Hansen pointed out that the restored elk population will eventually be managed through hunting. "Once we achieve a certain number of elk, hunting will be by far the most efficient way of managing numbers," Hansen said. "When that will start will depend on how the populations do."

All of the adult elk were fitted with GPS collars which enable officials to monitor their locations very well.  Since their release, they have distributed out over 10,000 acres. The majority of the elk have been keeping a home range of about 500-1,000 acres, Hansen said. As predicted, the elk are bedding in the wooded areas and coming out into the open fields to feed.

Of the released elk from the initial transfer, two of the adults have died.  The first was an older adult that had been caught and transplanted from Utah to Kentucky in the late 1990s and then more recently was recaptured and transferred to Missouri. This elk may have died from the combination of older age and stress from the transfers, Hansen said.  The second elk died in an accident where it somehow fell off a box culvert and broke it's back.  On a brighter note, there is the possibility that some of the females have produced calves after being released.

Most of the news appeared positve in the forum at Western.  Hansen began with the history of elk in Missouri and explained how they were drastically overhunted by settlers and Indians. Hansen said the last known record of an elk being taken was in 1865 in the bootheal part of the state.
 
It wasn't until the late 1990s the idea of restoring elk back into the state began.
While the idea was brought up and researched, fears such as bringing chronic-wasting disease into the state and other reasons put the plans on hold for more than a decade.

So why consider restoring elk to the state?  The Missouri Constitution assigns the Missouri Conservation Commission with the authority, responsibility and duty to consider restoration of wildlife resources that are native to the state.

Hansen also said there was considerable public interest in restoring elk, and Missouri also holds excellent habitat for them. There are also recreational and economic benefits, such as wildlife viewing and hunting.

Once the decision to restore an elk population was made, a location had to be chosen to release them. Peck Ranch Conservation Area in the southeastern part of the state won the decision for a multitude of reasons.

In its study on the restoration, MDC concentrated on areas where the elk would have a minimal amount of problems.  The first step was to eliminate all counties that had greater than 15 percent of the land in row crop agriculture. This effectively ruled out much of the northern half of the state, Hansen said.  "We just don't want elk in northern Missouri; that's the bottom line," Hanson said. "Elk, corn and soybeans simply don't mix very well. Elk would grow very well up here and grow very big, but they would create too many conflicts and we (MDC) don't ever plan on putting them up here."

MDC also avoided metropolitan areas like Kansas City, St. Louis, Springfield, Columbia and targeted areas with fewer four-lane highways and more rural counties to avoid conflicts with automobiles. Hansen said Peck Ranch was also chosen because of its immense size and the abundance of other public lands managed by other entities in that area.

"I'll say right up front that this isn't the best elk habitat in Missouri," Hansen said. "If we only considered habitat, we probably would have relocated them to north Missouri."

After a very strict battery of disease testing, the first group of elk were released onto Peck Ranch in June of this year.  The area where the elk were released is about 93 percent forested with no production row crops and very minimal roads in the area. Peck Ranch and surrounding areas offer the new herd more than 340 square miles of space to roam.