Elk Population

Makah Tribe collars cougars for study

The treed cougar flattens his ears as the howls of professional hunting dogs mix with the shouts of Makah tribal wildlife biologists in a snowy forest in the hook Game Management Unit near Neah Bay.

In this picture by Shannon Murphie, a wildlife biologist for the Makah Tribe, a male glowers from a tree.
A tranquilizer dart finds its mark and the adult male falls with a whump into a tarp rigged as a safety net. Carefully lowered to the ground, the 170-pound, 7-foot, 7-inch long cat (tail included) gets a radio collar tag that will help track his movements.

While February’s snow on the North Olympic Peninsula was unwelcomed by many, it’s exactly the kind of weather conditions needed to successfully track and collar cougars.

“Without the snow, it’s hard to track cougars, even with dogs,” Rob McCoy, wildlife division manager for the Makah Tribe said. “But snow makes fresh tracks easy to find and we can get the dogs on the proper track.” (more…)

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Lower Elwha Klallam, National Parks, work together on elk population study

A crew member from Leading Edge Aviation places a GPS collar on an elk within Olympic National Park. Photo courtesy of Leading Edge Aviation

The Lower Elwha Klallam Tribe and the National Park Service collaborated recently to study the elk in Olympic National Park.

The park service and the tribe worked with a helicopter crew to capture 18 elk and fit them with radio collars this fall.

The collars will help show biologists the migration patterns of herds within the Elwha River valley and around lakes Aldwell and Mills before and after the removal of the Elwha River’s two dams. The dams will be removed starting in September 2011.

(more…)

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Lower Elwha Klallam Tribe starts Roosevelt Elk Study

With an interest in the long-term sustainability of elk populations on the north Olympic Peninsula, the Lower Elwha Klallam Tribe has started a three-year research project aimed at gathering baseline data of the elk herds that reside between the Elwha River and Clallam Bay.

The tribe has two key goals: To gather basic ecological information on the Roosevelt elk that live in the Elwha River region prior to deconstruction of the Elwha dams in 2012; And to develop methods for longer-term monitoring of these herds. This will allow the tribe to determine if the elk population is increasing, decreasing, or remaining stable over time.  This study will provide the tribe with information about seasonal elk movement patterns, habitat requirements, and population size and structure. (more…)

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Puyallup Tribe’s new tracking method points to smaller elk herd size

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PACKWOOD – The South Rainier elk herd is smaller than previously thought, according to a new population model developed by the Puyallup Tribe of Indians.

“Our results point to a herd size of about 900. That’s about 1,100 fewer animals than a previous estimate by the state Department of Fish and Wildlife,” said Barbara Moeller, wildlife management biologist with the Puyallup Tribe. The tribal target population for the herd is 2,100. (more…)

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Puyallup Tribe opposes expanded hunt on weak elk herd

The Puyallup Tribe of Indians is opposing a proposed expanded hunt on the fewer than 1,000-animal herd. To decrease the number of human and elk interactions, the State of Washington is proposing an expanded hunt on antlerless elk along state Route 12 between Packwood and Morton. An expanded harvest on the South Rainier elk herd could cause the weak elk population to crash. The herd's target population is more than 2,100, according to the tribal and state co-managers.

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Newspapers, TV cover elk relocation

King 5 news ran a story on Friday about the relocation of six elk from Whatcom County to Snohomish County.
Watch the video here.

Over the weekend, The Bellingham Herald and the Skagit Valley Herald (subscription required) ran stories about it as well.

The Bellingham Herald:

Six elk pressed themselves into a tight huddle, stamping and shuffling in the muddy pen as they tried to keep away from the men with the crackling blue tarps.

…

Friday marked the second time in two years wildlife officials have trapped, collared and moved elk out of the Acme area of the South Fork Valley, where as many as 85 elk have been trampling fences and munching farmers’ crops. The animals Friday were taken to a mountain area near Darrington, off Highway 20.

(more…)

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