Fish and Game's elk study efforts continue in the Panhandle

Idaho Fish and Game wildlife biologists have started the third year of a comprehensive elk mortality study. Working with a private helicopter contractor, they have been in the field capturing and collaring elk in the Panhandle region. Cow and calf elk have been fitted with radio collars to monitor their survival rates and movements. In the last couple of weeks, 59 calf elk received collars, bringing the total to 169 elk that are being monitored in the Panhandle study. The study area includes big game Units 4, 6 and 7. The most recent capture work was completed in the Silver Valley, the North Fork Coeur d' Alene River, and the St. Joe River. The GPS collars record the animal's location twice per day. Collars will function for several years. The location, time, and other pertinent data are transmitted to a satellite and then to biologists as an email. The study plan is to collar and follow cow and calf elk so that Fish and Game can monitor survival rates, habitat use, seasonal movements, and perhaps most importantly to determine the specific causes of elk mortality. In this study, elk are being captured with either nets or tranquilizer darts depending upon the terrain and density of the forest canopy. Once an animal is restrained or under anesthesia, a handler fits the animal with a GPS collar. Blood and fecal samples (for disease and pregnancy surveillance) are taken, and estimates are recorded for the age of each animal. The elk is then released at the capture site just a few minutes later. The Panhandle Region's capture operation has gone very well and is now completed. Prior to the development of GPS collars, biologists had to use an antenna in hand or on a plane to determine an animal's location. Most locations were usually midday, during weather that allowed safe flights and good visibility. Now, locations are taken regardless of weather, giving a much better picture of what is going on with elk in the three units. A unique signal is produced if the collar is stationary for four hours, tipping biologists off that there may be a dead elk. In that event, the collar can be located as soon as possible and biologists can often (but not always) determine the cause of death. Of the elk captured in 2014 and 2015, the annual cow survival rate has been 89 percent. Calf survival has been 68 percent. New technology, such as the use of GPS collars, has changed wildlife management over time. New equipment and techniques have enabled better data collection and a better understanding of what is actually happening outside in all kinds of weather in both daylight and dark...all year long. If you see a helicopter circling in the skies at a low elevation in the Panhandle over the next few weeks, it is not part of this study. Wildlife managers have begun the annual winter aerial surveys of Panhandle elk herds, and are spending a lot of time in the air now getting trend information on elk population numbers.