Wildlife: Stray elk causes a clamor in West Virginia
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Managing wildlife is a tricky business. It's tough enough for trained biologists to come up with management plans the public supports, but when the non-hunting public gets involved, look out.
In May 2010, three elk escaped from a private captive facility owned by George Richter of Aleppo, Greene County. One cow was recaptured almost immediately, another cow remains unaccounted for, and a bull has been wandering for nearly two years.
Last October, Bob Wade reported he had seen an elk near West Virginia's Marshall and Wetzel county line.
"I've hunted and killed several elk out West over the years," he said, "so I know the difference between elk and deer."
Last week, the bull reappeared near the Marshall County community of Pleasant Valley. Local TV cameras filmed it at a backyard feeder.
A rumor spread like wildfire that the West Virginia Department of Natural Resources would kill it. That is standard procedure for escaped captive cervids (members of the deer family) because they can carry chronic wasting disease (CWD), which can spread to white-tailed deer. CWD has been confirmed in this area of West Virginia; the disease has not been detected in Pennsylvania. A definitive diagnosis for CWD requires lab tests of brain or lymph node tissue. But according to a source at the DNR, killing the elk was not seriously considered, if only because it would have been a public relations nightmare.
Some Pleasant Valley residents are treating the elk like a pet and even created a Facebook page for it. Meanwhile, the DNR tried to come up with a plan to return the elk to its owner in Pennsylvania.
"This is a bad situation, but I think it can be resolved," West Virginia DNR public information officer Hoy Murphy said on Wednesday. "We are still negotiating with Pennsylvania officials to come up with a plan that will protect the health and safety of both the elk and West Virginia citizens."
On Thursday, however, Pennsylvania made its decision.
"We are a CWD-free state. West Virginia is not. We have decided to deny the request to return the elk," said Samantha Elliott Krepps, press secretary of the Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture, which regulates confined animals. "And the Greene County facility from which the elk escaped is not certified CWD-free."
This puts the onus on West Virginia. The simple solution would be to shoot the elk and test it for CWD. But with so many people aware of the situation thanks to TV coverage, and a landowner who is feeding the elk, I don't see this ending well.
This is why it's a bad idea to permit private individuals to own wildlife. Plus Krepps said Richter never reported that his animals were missing. This bull has been roaming the countryside for nearly two years. It has certainly encountered white-tailed deer, if only at the backyard feeding stations it has visited.
Defined as "the art and science of manipulating wildlife populations, habitat and people to achieve specific goals," wildlife management is never easy. And usually, it's "people" who make it difficult.
I'm afraid that in this situation, the West Virginia DNR will have no choice but to kill the elk, and that will please no one.
First Published February 5, 2012 12:00 am
