|
| |
|
| |
|
|
|
January 24, 2006Elk population being surveyed from the airCount is first in five yearsHILLMAN - Wildlife biologists took to the skies over northern Lower Michigan to chase down the state's elk herd.The first scientific survey of Michigan's elk population in five years began Monday with two state Department of Natural Resources airplanes swooping low over the Pigeon River Country State Forest. State wildlife officials peered out the windows of Cessna 182s as they flew from Hillman Airport to search for elk from about 500 feet up. "If we see animals, we circle around and count them, and also try to determine how many bulls, cows and calves there are," said Brian Mastenbrook, DNR wildlife biologist. The project is coordinated by Michigan State University doctoral student Dan Walsh. The 28-year-old researcher broke down the state's elk range into two-by-six-mile sections that will be surveyed at random. "Working with a big game animal like elk is really interesting. It's a neat critter," Walsh said. Native elk disappeared from Michigan around 1875 and today's herd dates to 1918, when seven western animals were released near Wolverine. The elk herd grew to about 1,500 animals in the early 1960s, but diminished habitat quality and poaching left only 200 animals by 1975. The elk herd recovered over the decades to recent estimates of between 800 and 900 animals. Hunting resumed in 1984 and now a lottery determines which Michigan hunters get permits. Last year only 155 hunters got a chance from among more than 41,000 applicants. Walsh said the population survey will document elk behavior, as well as how many are grouped together and what type of ground cover they are found in. Mastenbrook said officials will also learn how the elk range is changing. "We know we've got some big clumps of animals outside the management area," he said. That territory includes all of the Pigeon River Country State Forest, west to Interstate 75 and east to about five miles beyond M-33. The elk that roam east of that highway are a growing concern for the DNR. "We're worried about elk getting TB from the deer. We've found four elk with TB to date, but none in the last two years," Mastenbrook said. "We have some infected animals, but we don't think the whole herd is infected."
|
|
