by Jessi Marlatt
A new government policy to systematically slaughter elk living within Rocky Mountain National Park recently finished its first season.
The shooting began in late January and ended in late February. Division of Wildlife (DOW) officials hoped to have thinned the herd by 100-200 animals by the end of this season but according to the Rocky Mountain National Park official web page, only 33 elk were killed this year.
The elk herd has grown so much in the past decades that many other natural aspects of the park were beginning to suffer. Willow and Aspen groves are a main food source for the animals throughout the winter, and with 600-800 elk in the park and another 1,000-1,300 elk roaming the area of the nearby town of Estes Park, the Division of Wildlife felt something had to be done.
The beaver population, which also survives on the willows and aspens, almost disappeared within the park.
With no natural predators—the wolves who once maintained herd size have been hunted out—the elk population has been able to thrive. Rather than opening to park to public hunting, sharp shooters volunteered to systematically kill elk each day between January 27 and February 19.
Research has been conducted for the past eleven years as to what the best solution for the growing elk populations would be. National Park Service decided to go with the culling program, with the intent that trained volunteer hunters would shoot only one or two female elk a day.
A lottery was open to the public to receive the meat from the animals culled. Over 4,500 people signed up for the lottery, but only 13 animals were given to those lottery entrances.
According to 7news of Denver, an electric fence has been erected around 61 acres of the park in order to protect vegetation. Park officials claim that erecting the fence around the entire park would be unrealistic due to cost and man-power and the fact that the vegetation serves as food for other animals such as beaver, badgers, birds and butterflies.
“The culling team had a primary shooter, a primary observer, a secondary shooter, and a secondary observer,” said Larry Rogstad, with the Colorado Division of Wildlife.
The estimated cost of the program will vary year to year, but the annual cost is estimated at $200,000, DOW officials said.
DOW officials claim that culling takes place in many areas across the country and is the most “efficient and humane way to control and reduce herds when herd populations have exceeded the carrying capacity of their habitat.”
Quick Facts:
According to the official Rocky Mountain Parks’ website:
• 20 elk were taken in support of the Chronic Wasting Disease (CWD)/Multi-year fertility control research/study – these animals were darted and euthanized by researchers
• 13 female elk were taken by the culling team
• The first day of the culling operation was January 27, 2009 the last day an elk was culled was February 19, 2009.
• CWD testing has been completed on 11 of the 13 animals culled. Eleven tested CWD not detected two tests are pending.
• One road kill (one female elk)
• Two mountain lion kills occurred during the culling period that the Rocky Mountain National Park officials were aware of (one female and one male elk)
Western State Writers Spring 2009 