Wednesday, February 22, 2006

Elk trapping operation completed


By JASON KAUFFMAN
Express Staff Writer

Idaho Department of Fish and Game officers completed a fourth and final elk trap and transplant operation Thursday at the Warm Springs Golf Course. The operation netted three bulls, four calves and 23 cows. Shown here is a photo of a bull elk on the golf course taken before the operation on Thursday. Photo by Willy Cook

The Idaho Department of Fish and Game successfully conducted a fourth and final elk trap and transplant operation Thursday at the Warm Springs Golf Course in Ketchum, IDFG manager for the Magic Valley region Randy Smith said.

The trapping operation netted a total of 30 elk, including three bulls, four calves and 23 cows Smith said.

Altogether, a total of 108 elk were trapped by the IDFG throughout January and February and relocated elsewhere. "We were more successful than we expected to be," Smith said. "We were pleased that we could get it done in one winter."

The Fish and Game released the elk at three separate locations: at the agency's Bullwhacker feed site farther up Warm Springs Creek, at a site 15 miles north of Minidoka and off the Bennett Mountain Road, just north of Glenn's Ferry.

Smith said the IDFG won't be monitoring the elk in any formal way at their new homes.

He said a number of Mountain Home resident have reported that the elk released near the Bennett Mountain Road haven't strayed very far. "They've only moved a mile or two," Smith said.

Before the Jan. 24 trapping operation IDFG officers had estimated that upwards of 100 elk inhabited the Warm Springs Golf Course.

IDFG wildlife health technicians tested each of the captured elk for brucellosis and tagged their ears before releasing them. Initial plate tests have indicated that none of the elk have contacted brucellosis, a disease that affect ungulates and some fear might infect domestic cattle.

In anticipation of the trapping operation, the Fish and Game recently set up a temporary feeding station on the 77-acre Warm Springs Ranch property, owned by development group Sun Valley Ventures. Elk have been fed on the Warm Springs Golf Course for more than 20 years.

The decision by Fish and Game to move the elk was made after Sun Valley Ventures indicated it would cooperate in the project. Fish and Game maintains that the elk have been congregating unnaturally at Warm Springs because of feeding operations there in the past, and some area residents have complained that elk damage landscaping and pose a hazard on city roads.

Smith said the Fish and game will continue to feed the few remaining elk on the Warm Springs Golf Course grounds to help them get through the remainder of this winter.

Next year, however, the IDFG will cease to feed elk at the golf course, he said. "It's pretty important that we don't give these elk feed next winter," Smith said.

The Fish and Game's intent is to keep elk from descending into lower Warm Springs by feeding them at the Bullwhacker feed site, he said.

Between 45 and 50 elk still remain at various locations throughout lower Warm Springs Creek, Smith said.

To keep elk from returning to the Warm Springs Golf Course people should refrain from feeding them, he said. "We don't want to attract new elk over there," Smith said.




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