The state of Wyoming wants to give 2,000 elk a shot
in the rump and has asked a federal court for
permission.
Each winter as many as 10,000 elk
migrate down from the deep snows of Yellowstone National Park and
surrounding lands (HCN, 9/15/97). They spend the winter on the
National Elk Refuge just outside the resort town of Jackson, where
they delight tourists who watch them eat hay thrown from
horse-drawn sleighs.
While the concentration of
thousands of wild animals inspires awe, it is also dangerous, say
state officials. They contend the refuge is a breeding ground for
brucellosis, a disease which can cause domestic cattle, if
infected, to abort their calves. It has been virtually wiped out in
this country, except in the Yellowstone
ecosystem.
To protect the state’s
brucellosis-free status, Wyoming wildlife officials want to
vaccinate elk calves with a vaccine known as Strain 19, but they’ve
been blocked by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. The federal
agency, which manages the refuge, maintains that the vaccine has
not been proven either effective or safe.
Last
month, the state filed a motion in federal court asking for the
right to vaccinate the elk while they are on the
refuge.
“I am convinced we are no closer to
resolution of the brucellosis problem with the different agencies
of the federal government than we were 10 years ago,” complained
Wyoming’s Gov. Jim Geringer.
As the battle is
waged in court, the snow is already starting to melt. Wildlife
officials admit that time is running out. By the end of March, most
of the elk will have left the refuge for the
year.
* Tom
Reed
This article appeared in the print edition of the magazine with the headline Elk are the battleground.
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