JoseCuervo
New member
They had to do a study for this???? Hell, I could have told them that Wolves only eat the 6x6 Bulls. That is why I don't have a hole in my tag!!!
Doesn't appear that Wolves are responsible for the mortality of Calves in Yellowstone.
Bears blamed for most elk calf deaths
Gazette Wyoming Bureau
YELLOWSTONE NATIONAL PARK – Researchers trying to understand how young elk die in Yellowstone National Park found this summer that grizzly bears and black bears killed most of the calves that were marked in the spring and were found dead later in the year.
The results – which researchers emphasize are very preliminary – are from the first portion of a three-year study of elk calf mortality on Yellowstone’s northern range.
The study is being conducted by the Yellowstone Center for Resources, the U.S. Geological Survey and the University of Minnesota.
The research, sparked by a recent elk population survey that showed a decline in the number of calves per cow elk, is meant to gauge the cause and timing of calve deaths, estimate calf survival rates and evaluate factors that might “predispose calves to death,” according to information provided by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.
In May and June, 51 calves that were less than six days old were captured, fitted with an ear tag and monitored daily. By September, 34 had died.
According to the study, 19 were killed by grizzly and black bears, five were killed by wolves, three by coyotes, two by either bears or wolves, one by a mountain lion, one by a wolverine and three died from causes other than predators.
Researchers emphasized that the calves studied this summer were only a small sample of the overall population and that the data shouldn’t be extrapolated to estimate yearly survival rates or population dynamics for other herds or during other seasons.
Monitoring of tagged calves will continue through this winter and new captures are scheduled for the spring of 2004 and the spring of 2005.
Doesn't appear that Wolves are responsible for the mortality of Calves in Yellowstone.
Bears blamed for most elk calf deaths
Gazette Wyoming Bureau
YELLOWSTONE NATIONAL PARK – Researchers trying to understand how young elk die in Yellowstone National Park found this summer that grizzly bears and black bears killed most of the calves that were marked in the spring and were found dead later in the year.
The results – which researchers emphasize are very preliminary – are from the first portion of a three-year study of elk calf mortality on Yellowstone’s northern range.
The study is being conducted by the Yellowstone Center for Resources, the U.S. Geological Survey and the University of Minnesota.
The research, sparked by a recent elk population survey that showed a decline in the number of calves per cow elk, is meant to gauge the cause and timing of calve deaths, estimate calf survival rates and evaluate factors that might “predispose calves to death,” according to information provided by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.
In May and June, 51 calves that were less than six days old were captured, fitted with an ear tag and monitored daily. By September, 34 had died.
According to the study, 19 were killed by grizzly and black bears, five were killed by wolves, three by coyotes, two by either bears or wolves, one by a mountain lion, one by a wolverine and three died from causes other than predators.
Researchers emphasized that the calves studied this summer were only a small sample of the overall population and that the data shouldn’t be extrapolated to estimate yearly survival rates or population dynamics for other herds or during other seasons.
Monitoring of tagged calves will continue through this winter and new captures are scheduled for the spring of 2004 and the spring of 2005.
