The elk release into the Great Smoky Mountains National Park is actually part of a 5-year study to determine the feasibility of reintroducting the animals to this area.

The research will focus on how the herd adapts to the new surroundings and the impact of the animals on the park’s ecosystem.

The animals will be released on Friday (Feb. 2) into a 3-acre holding pen in the Cataloochee section of the Great Smoky Mountains National Park.

Jennifer Murrow, a Ph.D. candidate at the University of Tennessee, will be the primary field researcher for the project. She will be under the supervision of Dr. Joseph D. Clark.

Murrow, a Charleston native, received her bachelor’s degree in wildlife biology from Clemson University and her masters from the University of Tennessee.

The release in Cataloochee is what biologist call a “soft” release. The elk will be released into the acclimation pen and held for a couple of months before being set free in the park.

In a hard release, there is no acclimation or holding area. Dr. Clark said researchers in the Smokies will be sharing information with the Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency, which recently (December 2000) initiated a hard release of 50 elk into the Royal Blue Wildlife Management Area in Tennessee. The shared data will allow researchers to compare the two release methods.

Two of the animals released in Royal Blue have died, and two other radio collars have been found. No cause of death has been determined at this time.

The age and sex of the elk released in the Smokies is quite different from a standard reintroduction program.

“A reintroduction project would be mostly cows,” Murrow said. “We wanted a general mix -- something similar to a natural herd -- for our study.”

GPS and radio-transmitter collars will be placed on all elk. Murrow said that permanent collars would be put on the adults, but expandable collars that release as the necks grow will be used on the calves. Researchers hope to be able to capture and refit the calves as the need arises.

Collars are equipped with mortality indicators which emit a special signal if the collar is motionless for a long period of time. This will allow researchers to find dead animals so necropsies can be performed.
Ideally, each elk will be located up to four times daily for a period of up to four years. Murrow said that she will do twice weekly fly-overs of the park -- weather permitting -- to aid in location efforts. The detailed tracking will allow researchers to learn about travel patterns, home ranges, reproduction and habitat preferences.

The study calls for the release of up to 30 more elk in both 2002 and 2003, which would bring the number of released elk to about 80. Data collection will continue through 2004, with telemetry activities continuing into 2005. Murrow will produce a final report by the end of 2005.

The focus of the study it twofold: to determine the feasibility of establishing a permanent elk population in the GSMNP and to determine the impact such a herd would have on the park. Clark said that the experimental release was in the “evaluation stage” and could be halted at any time if there was apparent negative impact on either the elk or the park.

He said the National Park Service works under a different mandate than state wildlife agencies. The NPS is required to give as much emphasis to protecting the rich botanical diversity and the fragile ecosystems of the Smokies as to the well being of the elk.

The GSMNP must also consider its neighbors. According to the environmental assessment for the elk release, the park will implement a “Zone Management” plan for areas outside its boundary. There will be a “Buffer Zone” and a “No Elk Zone.” The Buffer Zone will be lands directly adjacent to the park. Elk will be allowed in the Buffer Zone as long as there are no significant conflicts.

Sensitive areas -- such as farms, orchards, and populated areas within the Buffer Zones -- will be No Elk Zones. All elk that enter these No Elk Zones will be removed.

“If all goes well, these animals will become an established herd,” said Dr. Clark.

View the elk capture gallery

 

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