More Elk Being Thinned From National Park In ND

The National Park Service has thinned about two dozen antlerless elk from the South Unit of Theodore Roosevelt National Park in the past few weeks to help keep the population at a manageable level.

 

 

 

 

MEDORA, N.D. (AP) - The National Park Service has thinned about two dozen antlerless elk from the South Unit of Theodore Roosevelt National Park in the past few weeks to help keep the population at a manageable level.

The western North Dakota park is in the maintenance phase of an elk management plan that included large reduction efforts in 2010 and 2011. The herd had grown to more than 1,200 animals, too many for the park to sustain, so nearly 870 of the animals were killed.

Superintendent Valerie Naylor says a small number of elk need to be thinned this year to keep the herd within the population objective of 100-400 animals. Park spokeswoman Eileen Andes says a maximum of 80 elk will be removed by early December. The meat is donated to charity.

(KFGO News file photo)

 

AP

   

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