Yellowstone Gate (https://www.yellowstonegate.com/tag/elk/page/2/)
Early Yellowstone National Park visitor the Earl of Dunraven shares a scary tale of a dark and stormy night in 1874, in which "the Demon of the Tempest was abroad in his anger, yelling down the valley, dashing out the water-floods with his hands, laying waste the forest, and filling with dread the hearts of man and beast and every living thing." Continue Reading →
The path to completion for many research and education proposals is often complex and baffling, and a new project to study and document elk migrations around Yellowstone National Park is no exception. It has connections with the most famous man in the world, touches on the inspirational story of a rotting whale and finds fruition through a century-old family legacy involving European royalty. Continue Reading →
A proposal to study elk migration in the greater Yellowstone area and share information about the animals' movements has won $100,000 in funding from a new contest aimed at supporting biodiversity studies in the region. Yale University wildlife ecologist Arthur Middleton and South Dakota wildlife photographer Joe Riis were awarded the first Camp Monaco Prize. Continue Reading →
A University of Wyoming study shows that elk don’t respond frequently enough to threats from wolves to impact body fat and pregnancy rates. Wolves’ effects on elk populations is limited to direct predation, not harassment or stress that leads to lower pregnancy rates or poor body composition, according to the study. Continue Reading →
Following violent encounters between hunters and grizzly bears in each of the last two years, Grand Teton National Park managers are changing how elk hunts within the park will operate this fall. Changes outlined in a statement released Wednesday are aimed at reducing the likelihood of future bear-human conflicts and minimizing the chances that hunters will fire at elk they aren't sure they can kill. Continue Reading →
Authorities in Yellowstone National Park are seeking information that would help identify the individual or persons responsible for illegally retrieving a bull elk carcass from inside the park last month. Park rangers determined the bull was shot sometime between Sept. 11 and Sept. 21, inside the park’s southern boundary behind the Wyoming Game and Fish Department patrol cabin along Thorofare Creek, according to a statement released by the park's public affairs office. Continue Reading →
Although hunting is banned in most national parks, an annual elk hunt aimed at controlling unnaturally high herd sizes will begin Saturday in limited areas within Grand Teton National Park. Wildlife managers have used federally mandated hunts to help cull the burgeoning elk herds around Grand Teton since the 1950s, and while there is widespread local public support for elk hunts in the park, the practice has been criticized by some. Continue Reading →
Well, here's something you don't see every day. Photographer Daryl Hunter has posted a pretty perplexing video of elk and a grizzly bear behaving in a way that seems — well, you're just going to have to watch it. In Hunter's video, a grizzly bear in the Willow Flats area of Grand Teton National Park strolls into frame and, understandably, a bunch of elk trot briskly in the opposite direction. But then, something really weird happens. The grizzly does not give chase, and the elk walk right back up to the bear. Then the bear appears to wander around the herd for a few minutes, all without the bear or the elk doing what you would expect. Continue Reading →
Yellowstone wildlife watchers cherish spring and early summer as a prime time to see baby animals with their mothers. More than 60 different species of mammals live in Yellowstone and Grand Teton national parks, and they typically give birth in time for their young to take advantage of summer's bounty. Late May and early June can be a great time to spot Grand Teton and Yellowstone wildlife caring for their young. But photographers and wildlife watchers should take extra care to avoid getting too close to baby animals. Mothers of all kinds — from bears to birds — will zealously defend their young. Getting too close can stress the babies and prompt an aggressive defense from parents or other members of a group. Continue Reading →
How many present-day elected officials have been elk hunting? If you're asking the question of politicians around the greater Yellowstone area, the answer is probably "quite a few." Hunting is a part of the local culture around Yellowstone and Grand Teton national parks. But not so much in much of America's urban areas today. It's no secret that Theodore Roosevelt was an avid outdoorsman and enthusiastic big game hunter. But in a great excerpt unearthed by author and historian M. Mark Miller, Roosevelt describes catching a whiff of an elk while on the hunt in 1891. (Roosevelt even offers an account of the animal's differing aroma while in rut.) Continue Reading →