A 40-pound male elk calf has been born in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park, the first born in the Smokies in over 150 years and the first to be delivered by the eight pregnant elks in the herd.
The calf was born on Friday, June 22, but was not located until Sunday evening hidden in a blackberry thicket close to the meadows in Cataloochee Valley.

The University of Tennessee graduate student Jennifer Murrow - who is conducting on-site monitoring of the experimental elk release project - began searching for the newborn after being alerted on Friday by the ejection of a transmitter implant from the female cow. The eight pregnant elk were implanted with transmitters in the birth canal to help biologists know when the calves were born.

There were false alarms earlier when some of the transmitters were lost as the females dilated. But Saturday morning researchers, using telemetry devices, located an implant transmitter and the site of a delivery. It took another day and a half of searching to locate the calf. The calf was found about a third of a mile from the site of the delivery. According to Park Wildlife Biologist Kim Delozier, elk cows typically move their newborn calves some distance from the site of delivery as a survival mechanism.
“Elk calves are most vulnerable to predators in the first few days after birth, and the mothers will distance them from the birthing site which could attract predators,” Delozier said.

Biologists placed an expandable radio collar on the new calf to help them learn about survival rate in the wild, an important part of the 5-year experimental project. The animals in the Smokies experiment all came from a wild herd at Land between the Lakes in Kentucky and have not been exposed to bears or other predators.

“We are pleased with this announcement and the success of the elk experiment to date,” said park superintendent Michael Tollefson. “We ask that the public be good stewards and not to approach the elk, particularly females with calves which are known to charge people in defense of their offspring and will probably rejoin the herd in a couple of weeks.”

Elk calves have camouflaged spotted coats like white-tailed deer fawns when they’re born. They can walk a few minutes after birth and are able to follow their mother by day three. They are dependent upon mother’s milk for a month and, while they are able to graze after that point, most will still suckle for up to nine months.

Moms and babies usually rejoin the herd within one to three weeks. Cows, calves and yearlings herd together. The females take turns babysiting. One or more of the adults generally watch the calves while the rest of the herd grazes.

 

Back to Top
The Smoky Mountain News