Fish and Game Seeks Help to Find Domestic Elk

By Gregg Losinski, Idaho Department of Fish and Game The last landowner controlled hunt for domestic elk escaped from a private game farm is over, but Idaho Fish and Game officials still want landowners' and hunters' help in the continuing effort to remove the animals from the Yellowstone Ecosystem. "We will continue to do all we can to remove the domestic elk that have escaped whenever we can, but because they have started to spread out, continuing to allow special hunts could cause conflict with existing hunts for wild elk," Fish and Game regional Supervisor Steve Schmidt said. "We are asking landowners and sportsmen to help us spot the remaining 10 to 40 escaped domestics and report their location to us. Our conservation officers, as part of their routine patrols, will attempt to remove these threats to our wild herds whenever possible." About 160 domestic elk escaped from the private Chief Joseph Idaho game farm in eastern Idaho in early August. The escaped animals have ranged farther from their high-fence pen near the southwest corner of Yellowstone National Park since the onset of the breeding and general hunting seasons. "Once domestic elk are out of the pen, it's awfully hard to track them all down," Schmidt said. "We are getting reports of possible escaped domestic elk as far away as Teton Canyon outside of Driggs." Initial efforts to remove the domestic elk from the wild involved the efforts of Fish and Game, the Idaho Department of Agriculture, local landowners and elk hunters with elk tags for the area near where the domestic elk escaped. "Our last round of special landowner hunts only recovered two domestic bulls and one domestic cow elk" regional wildlife manager Daryl Meints said. That brings the total number of domestic elk removed in response to the governor's executive order to 36. Another seven wild elk were killed as an unintentional but not unexpected consequence of this action. The number of domestic elk still at large remains unknown. "We likely will never know the exact number of domestic elk still loose, and it will not be a surprise when one or more domestic elk show up years from now," Meints said. A controlled elk hunt in the zone where domestic elk escaped, began Monday, November 6. Hunters should be aware that they may encounter a domestic elk in unit 62. A hunter who kills a domestic elk, evidenced by a silver metal ear tag, should not apply a Fish and Game elk tag. Instead, the hunter should contact the Idaho Falls Fish and Game office. They still can pursue wild elk. "Fish and Game officers will attempt to remove remaining escaped domestic elk whenever we can, but we really need the public's help right now to focus our efforts so we can both address this problem and deal with the regular demands officers face during the peak of the hunting season," Schmidt said. Landowners and sportsmen who think that they have spotted any of the escaped domestic elk should contact the Idaho Falls Fish and Game office at 208-525-7290. The number of animals and an exact location are critical. Reports should include specific landmarks, landowners or even GPS coordinates where possible. Gregg Losinski is the regional conservation educator for the Upper Snake Region.