Elk NetworkBull Elk Thinks It’s a Cow, Gets Relocated

General | June 7, 2019

Below is a Facebook post from Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife.

A day in the life…

A small team of WDFW staffers -from our enforcement and wildlife program- reached out to respond to some local landowners outside Olympia and help them with their elk challenge. The landowners had a bull elk hanging out with their herd of cattle over recent weeks. The bull was herding the cows around, pushing them through fencing, and at times forgetting momentarily he was an elk bull :-).

The landowners were patient, hoping the bull would leave on its own after a while, but the elk remained (the dude abides). We hazed the elk to dissuade his interest in the herd, but after that did not work as we hoped, we eventually captured, sedated and moved the elk to a place where he would cause less trouble. While these calls are not common, they happen and this is just part of the day in the life of wildlife managers.

We checked on the elk recently, and he is doing fine–and the cows and people are also doing great!

(Photo source: Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife)