Associated Press
ELMA — As a helicopter swooped low, the elk scampered.
State Department of Fish and Game officers picked them off with tranquilizer darts, loaded them into horse trailers and drove them two hours east to Enumclaw, where biologists hope to replenish a herd in southeast King County.
In all, 27 elk were rounded up from the Chehalis River Valley west of Olympia on Saturday. After being checked by a veterinarian for disease, pregancy or possible harm from the darts, they were fitted with radio transmitters and released near the headwaters of the Green River, The Olympian newspaper reported.
Rocky Spencer, a state fish and wildlife biologist, called the effort a crucial part of a long-term plan to rebuild the north Rainier elk herd, which dropped below the department’s population goals in the mid-1990s and has been slow to recover.
The move was also prompted by complaints from area residents, who said growing numbers of elk were damaging their property, said Jack Smith, a wildlife biologist who works with Spencer.
"We see this as a win-win situation," Smith said. "By moving these elk, we can take them out of areas where they are causing trouble and use them to help rebuild the north Rainier herd."
Elk hunting has been banned in the Green River watershed since 1997. But because of habitat loss and other factors, the north Rainier herd this year is numbered at 170 — well below the Fish and Wildlife’s goal of 500.
Many elk in that area were brought from Yellowstone National Park in the early 1990s.
"We’ve done a lot of work to improve elk habitat in the area, and we’re hoping that our native Roosevelt elk will fare better," Spencer said.
More roundups are scheduled in Grays Harbor, Mason and Pacific counties later this month.
Associated Press
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