Elk Tagging in Wyoming.

Authors(s): C. C. Anderson

Publication: Wyoming Wild Life

Publisher:

Publication Date: 0000-00-00

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Abstract: Large scale elk tagging was begun in Wyoming in 1943. Since that time, nearly 3,000 elk have been ear tagged. The majority of these animals have been trapped and tagged on winter feeding grounds, but a significant number have been tagged as newborn calves. The tagging procedure consists of applying a metal ear tag, similar to those used for cattle. One side of the tag bears a serial number; the other side is stamped "Notify Wyoming Game and Fish Commission." When the tagging operation was originated, tags were placed in both ears, but in recent operations, only one tag has been used. A permanent record is kept on file for each animal, so that when a tag is returned by a successful hunter, or when one is returned after being found on a dead elk, or when one is subsequently re-trapped, the information is recorded, and the card placed in a cross-file for easy reference. Most of the winter tagging has been accomplished on the Federal Elk Refuge and the South Park feedground in Jackson Hole, and on the Grey's River feedground in lower Star Valley. Smaller numbers of elk have been tagged at Green River Lakes and on Alkali and Fish Creeks in the Gros Ventre River drainage. Newborn calves have been tagged in Jackson Hole, on Grey's River, and in the Big Horn Mountains, usually in conjunction with other work. The primary purpose of tagging has been to determine migration routes, and this can be accomplished in a relatively short time when elk can be tagged on feedgrounds. Additional information which can be obtained over a period of years includes migratory habits, age records, sex ratios, adaptations to changing conditions, comparative census and harvest data, and other biological information concerning elk. Tagging of newborn calves sometimes provides a record of the animal from bitrh until death, since it is not unusual to obtain several successive records of a single elk. It offers the additional value of presenting the migration in reverse to that revealed by winter tagging operations. Newborn calves tagged on spring ranges can usually be found on feedgrounds in the winter, and study of their tags will indicate where elk go for the winter after summering in a certain area. The use of brightly-colored plastic discs, which are recognizable from a distance, is still in the experimental stage. If successful, this practice will greatly increase the number of returns, and thus speed and increase the collection of more extensive data. With this system, a different color is used in each area in spring tagging, or on each feedground so that movements of elk can be followed even though the individual elk will not be identified through its tag number.

Keywords: Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem, animal studies, animal, mammal, ungulate, wapiti, Cervidae, elk , Cervus elaphus, migration, population, distribution, ear tag, Jackson Hole, Teton County, National Elk Refuge, wildlife , management