elk deaths a mystery so far in Wyoming
03-07-2004, 04:51 AM
#11
Join Date: Feb 2003
Location: south western, wy USA
Posts: 496
RE: elk deaths a mystery so far in Wyoming
FIRST CAPTURED ELK DIES; RESEARCH AND SURVEYS CONTINUE
3/5/2004
RAWLINS – The first live but afflicted elk transported from the area southwest of Rawlins where 280 have lost leg muscle strength and died or been euthanized, died at the Wyoming State Veterinary Laboratory Friday morning.
Although the Game and Fish Department manages big game animals in terms of statewide populations and herds, this cow elk had become a focal point in the quest to discover the mysterious malady after her capture Feb. 29.
Veterinarians had treated the elk for dehydration, plus administered B vitamins, vitamin E, selenium and anti-inflammatory drugs trying to gain insights into the malady.
Lead G&F veterinarian Walt Cook said the elk was drinking well, but not eating, and looked good Thursday evening. Three elk captured March 1 are still living and have good vital signs, except they also are not eating.
“Lack of appetite may be a result of the sickness or perhaps just stress,” Cook said. “Hopefully the elk will start eating.”
In the arduous process to identify the source of malady, WSVL personnel have now ruled out calcium deficiency. Last week the laboratory eliminated chronic wasting disease, bacterial and common viral infections, tick paralysis, meningeal and carotid artery worm as causes. Mercury poisoning, selenium toxicity, many of the common plant toxins, some insecticides, a variety of metals and salt, nitrate and sulfate poisoning have also been eliminated.
The G&F is surveying a 50-square-mile area for sick elk and also taking extensive plant samples for analysis.
The discovery of dying elk was initially reported to the department on Feb. 8 when a coyote hunter found two elk approximately 15 miles from Rawlins that were alive, but unable to move.
Officials say there is no evidence to suggest any human health risk and that this malady appears to affect only elk.
-WGFD-
3/5/2004
RAWLINS – The first live but afflicted elk transported from the area southwest of Rawlins where 280 have lost leg muscle strength and died or been euthanized, died at the Wyoming State Veterinary Laboratory Friday morning.
Although the Game and Fish Department manages big game animals in terms of statewide populations and herds, this cow elk had become a focal point in the quest to discover the mysterious malady after her capture Feb. 29.
Veterinarians had treated the elk for dehydration, plus administered B vitamins, vitamin E, selenium and anti-inflammatory drugs trying to gain insights into the malady.
Lead G&F veterinarian Walt Cook said the elk was drinking well, but not eating, and looked good Thursday evening. Three elk captured March 1 are still living and have good vital signs, except they also are not eating.
“Lack of appetite may be a result of the sickness or perhaps just stress,” Cook said. “Hopefully the elk will start eating.”
In the arduous process to identify the source of malady, WSVL personnel have now ruled out calcium deficiency. Last week the laboratory eliminated chronic wasting disease, bacterial and common viral infections, tick paralysis, meningeal and carotid artery worm as causes. Mercury poisoning, selenium toxicity, many of the common plant toxins, some insecticides, a variety of metals and salt, nitrate and sulfate poisoning have also been eliminated.
The G&F is surveying a 50-square-mile area for sick elk and also taking extensive plant samples for analysis.
The discovery of dying elk was initially reported to the department on Feb. 8 when a coyote hunter found two elk approximately 15 miles from Rawlins that were alive, but unable to move.
Officials say there is no evidence to suggest any human health risk and that this malady appears to affect only elk.
-WGFD-
03-08-2004, 11:33 PM
#13
Join Date: Feb 2004
Location: Wyoming
Posts: 287
RE: elk deaths a mystery so far in Wyoming
338
Area 15 is my favorite hunting area. The Elk last year were plentiful and healthy. I did not harvest an animal BUT I was totally amazed at the amount of hunters riding their four wheelers both on and off the road. Amazed is a very soft expletive when you consider the idiocy of hunters trying to sneakup on a herd of Elk while riding an atv. I spoke with one hunter who was cruising the forestry roads with a Weatherby 300 supermag in his lap. He showed me his dislocated finger and explained how his "UNSAFED WEAPON" (he said it was on safe but that he had a light trigger pressure) went off as he attempted to gather his shot at a few cows crossing the road. HUGELY illegal, immensley (SP) stupid. After this year of disapointment and the news the animals to be suffering from exhaustion "Like being run to exhaustion" Speculation (not totally on my part) has it that there is someone or some thing trying to herd the animals for fun or profit. This has yet to be proven.
The WYO Game and Fish is a PREMIER organization and is constantly being pressured by extremists from everywhere. DON"T EVEN TALK WOLF in my backyard. Take them and put them in YOUR backyard. BLAH BLAH BLAH Yamma Yamma Yamma.
SORRY FOLKS BUT I HAD TO VENT
Area 15 is my favorite hunting area. The Elk last year were plentiful and healthy. I did not harvest an animal BUT I was totally amazed at the amount of hunters riding their four wheelers both on and off the road. Amazed is a very soft expletive when you consider the idiocy of hunters trying to sneakup on a herd of Elk while riding an atv. I spoke with one hunter who was cruising the forestry roads with a Weatherby 300 supermag in his lap. He showed me his dislocated finger and explained how his "UNSAFED WEAPON" (he said it was on safe but that he had a light trigger pressure) went off as he attempted to gather his shot at a few cows crossing the road. HUGELY illegal, immensley (SP) stupid. After this year of disapointment and the news the animals to be suffering from exhaustion "Like being run to exhaustion" Speculation (not totally on my part) has it that there is someone or some thing trying to herd the animals for fun or profit. This has yet to be proven.
The WYO Game and Fish is a PREMIER organization and is constantly being pressured by extremists from everywhere. DON"T EVEN TALK WOLF in my backyard. Take them and put them in YOUR backyard. BLAH BLAH BLAH Yamma Yamma Yamma.
SORRY FOLKS BUT I HAD TO VENT
03-09-2004, 10:27 AM
#15
Join Date: Feb 2003
Location: Stoughton WI USA
Posts: 27
RE: elk deaths a mystery so far in Wyoming
ORIGINAL: Poluke
338 Shooter - I had no intensions of hollering at you I was just hollering please take no offense.
338 Shooter - I had no intensions of hollering at you I was just hollering please take no offense.
Since the topic of wolves came up I thought I would metion this. I talked to a rancher friend down there a couple weeks back now and there were two male wolves spotted down there North and East of Baggs (I also heard there were wolves spotted as far south as Hayden). That would roughly be the area where these elk have been found dead...Poison? Just a thought. By the way, I have no proof of that information, it's just what I was told.
Poluke,
As for area 15, those people are the exact reason I hunt the other side of the road. I get on a horse and get try and get away from the idiots.
03-09-2004, 10:33 AM
#16
Nontypical Buck
Thread Starter
Join Date: Feb 2003
Location: Rifle, Colorado
Posts: 2,012
RE: elk deaths a mystery so far in Wyoming
Elk could have been run to death
By CANDY MOULTON
Star-Tribune correspondent Thursday, March 04, 2004
ENCAMPMENT -- Wildlife experts are starting to think a herd of elk south of Rawlins was literally run to death.
The cause of the massive elk die-off 15 miles south of Rawlins remains undetermined, but state wildlife experts are focusing on toxins or the possibility that excessive running and stress led to the paralysis that has affected 280 animals, which either died or were killed by wildlife managers.
Dr. Walt Cook of the Wyoming State Veterinary Lab in Laramie said two elk thought to be suffering early symptoms of the paralysis that affected those that died were killed by game officials on Monday and necropsies have been performed. Results of the necropsy are not expected until later this week.
One of the elk was "showing very early signs" of the mystery disease, Cook said, because although it was "still able to walk and run a little bit" the animal seemed to have difficulty moving its hindquarters.
The state vet lab pathologist will evaluate the muscle tissue from the affected animals to determine whether "it is a primary muscle lesion that causes them to go down" or if they are developing a secondary muscle lesion after they are already immobilized, Cook said.
If the results show that the muscle lesions are "primary," then researchers will lean more heavily toward the theory that the elk were "somehow stressed or ran in some way," Cook said.
Severe stress or long distance running can affect an animal's muscles, leading to the kind of paralysis noted in the animals that have died, he said. Should the necropsy show that the lesions are secondary -- caused after the animal is already partially down -- such a theory will move into the "unlikely" category of causes.
However, the idea that the elk suffered and died as a result of stress or long distance running "kind of fits," Cook said.
He said wildlife researchers first recognized the effects of running and stress on elk when they "unknowingly ran them too hard" while conducting various research projects. In those cases, the animals which had been run hard would collapse and die a week or so after the initial period of stress.
Many other kinds of reasons for the elk illness and death have been ruled out, including natural poisoning by nitrates, salt and metals. But, Cook said, "We still have the one common lesion that we're finding in these (dead elk) is muscle degeneration." As a result it is "becoming more and more likely" that the elk deaths are related to running or stress and not to toxins, he said.
Wildlife managers have found no evidence that people in motor vehicles chased the elk, nor is there any evidence that they were harassed by wolves or other predators. It would be "unusual for wolves to run them this far to cause this problem," Cook said. Further, "we would have expected wolves to have gotten one of them" and there is no evidence of any predation injuries or deaths.
Officials have no way to know if the animals might have been frightened and run by airplanes or helicopters flying in the area, he said.
Even so, a number of other possibilities still exist and are also being investigated.
Some types of livestock feed supplements "can cause this kind of syndrome," Cook said, but he noted that "seems relatively unlikely" because of the amount of supplement the animals would need to consume to feel such effects and the lack of evidence in the field of any actual supplements.
Not yet ruled out, but considered unlikely, are poisons such as Compound 1080, which has not been used legally for many years, and strychnine, which is not "very likely" because of the amount needed to cause such reaction in so many elk, Cook said.
Common plants that can cause such symptoms have been ruled out, but other plants remain a possible source, as does the "very unlikely" disease known as tick paralysis.
Four different water sources, including an artesian well that was "suspicious" because of its location in the center of the outbreak, and water associated with oil drilling activities, have been tested and found to be safe for animals, Cook said.
The elk in the area have moved into more remote areas, making monitoring more difficult, Cook said. Based on helicopter monitoring conducted Monday, he said, "I think the worst of it is over."
Wildlife managers have also captured four live elk from the herd affected by the die-off, and those animals are now being monitored to determine how they respond to various treatments to see if vitamin deficiencies are causing the illness and deaths.
The four elk -- three cows and one young bull -- were moved by helicopter from the herd area and then transported in a stock trailer to Laramie on Sunday and Monday.
The first elk deaths were reported by coyote hunters on Feb. 8.
By CANDY MOULTON
Star-Tribune correspondent Thursday, March 04, 2004
ENCAMPMENT -- Wildlife experts are starting to think a herd of elk south of Rawlins was literally run to death.
The cause of the massive elk die-off 15 miles south of Rawlins remains undetermined, but state wildlife experts are focusing on toxins or the possibility that excessive running and stress led to the paralysis that has affected 280 animals, which either died or were killed by wildlife managers.
Dr. Walt Cook of the Wyoming State Veterinary Lab in Laramie said two elk thought to be suffering early symptoms of the paralysis that affected those that died were killed by game officials on Monday and necropsies have been performed. Results of the necropsy are not expected until later this week.
One of the elk was "showing very early signs" of the mystery disease, Cook said, because although it was "still able to walk and run a little bit" the animal seemed to have difficulty moving its hindquarters.
The state vet lab pathologist will evaluate the muscle tissue from the affected animals to determine whether "it is a primary muscle lesion that causes them to go down" or if they are developing a secondary muscle lesion after they are already immobilized, Cook said.
If the results show that the muscle lesions are "primary," then researchers will lean more heavily toward the theory that the elk were "somehow stressed or ran in some way," Cook said.
Severe stress or long distance running can affect an animal's muscles, leading to the kind of paralysis noted in the animals that have died, he said. Should the necropsy show that the lesions are secondary -- caused after the animal is already partially down -- such a theory will move into the "unlikely" category of causes.
However, the idea that the elk suffered and died as a result of stress or long distance running "kind of fits," Cook said.
He said wildlife researchers first recognized the effects of running and stress on elk when they "unknowingly ran them too hard" while conducting various research projects. In those cases, the animals which had been run hard would collapse and die a week or so after the initial period of stress.
Many other kinds of reasons for the elk illness and death have been ruled out, including natural poisoning by nitrates, salt and metals. But, Cook said, "We still have the one common lesion that we're finding in these (dead elk) is muscle degeneration." As a result it is "becoming more and more likely" that the elk deaths are related to running or stress and not to toxins, he said.
Wildlife managers have found no evidence that people in motor vehicles chased the elk, nor is there any evidence that they were harassed by wolves or other predators. It would be "unusual for wolves to run them this far to cause this problem," Cook said. Further, "we would have expected wolves to have gotten one of them" and there is no evidence of any predation injuries or deaths.
Officials have no way to know if the animals might have been frightened and run by airplanes or helicopters flying in the area, he said.
Even so, a number of other possibilities still exist and are also being investigated.
Some types of livestock feed supplements "can cause this kind of syndrome," Cook said, but he noted that "seems relatively unlikely" because of the amount of supplement the animals would need to consume to feel such effects and the lack of evidence in the field of any actual supplements.
Not yet ruled out, but considered unlikely, are poisons such as Compound 1080, which has not been used legally for many years, and strychnine, which is not "very likely" because of the amount needed to cause such reaction in so many elk, Cook said.
Common plants that can cause such symptoms have been ruled out, but other plants remain a possible source, as does the "very unlikely" disease known as tick paralysis.
Four different water sources, including an artesian well that was "suspicious" because of its location in the center of the outbreak, and water associated with oil drilling activities, have been tested and found to be safe for animals, Cook said.
The elk in the area have moved into more remote areas, making monitoring more difficult, Cook said. Based on helicopter monitoring conducted Monday, he said, "I think the worst of it is over."
Wildlife managers have also captured four live elk from the herd affected by the die-off, and those animals are now being monitored to determine how they respond to various treatments to see if vitamin deficiencies are causing the illness and deaths.
The four elk -- three cows and one young bull -- were moved by helicopter from the herd area and then transported in a stock trailer to Laramie on Sunday and Monday.
The first elk deaths were reported by coyote hunters on Feb. 8.
03-10-2004, 06:35 AM
#18
Join Date: Feb 2003
Location: Marysville WA USA
Posts: 760
RE: elk deaths a mystery so far in Wyoming
Here's more on the Wyoming Elk problem
Full Elk Story
Full Elk Story
March 9, 2004 Cheyenne, Wyoming - On February 8, 2004, Wyoming coyote hunters contacted the Wyoming Game and Fish Department in Rawlins to report their finding two live elk down on their chests, unable to rise. The location was about 15 miles southwest of Rawlins on land actually owned and managed by the Wyoming Game and Fish Department. A Rawlins field biologist went to investigate, found the two elk and subsequently, other field investigators found another 80 live, paralyzed elk. The number of debilitated animals has now risen to almost 300 today. Nine more, all alive, were found the weekend of March 6-7, 2004. Sadly, all have been euthanized.
This week I talked about the baffling phenomenon with Tom Reed, Publications Supervisor, Wyoming Game and Fish Department, Cheyenne, Wyoming.
This week I talked about the baffling phenomenon with Tom Reed, Publications Supervisor, Wyoming Game and Fish Department, Cheyenne, Wyoming.
03-10-2004, 08:13 AM
#20
Join Date: Feb 2003
Location: south western, wy USA
Posts: 496
RE: elk deaths a mystery so far in Wyoming
ENCAMPMENT --Three of four elk captured alive but suffering from a mystery illness that were treated with a regimen of vitamins, antibiotics, and minerals have now died or been euthanized, Wyoming Game and Fish Department veterinarian Dr. Walt Cook said Monday.
Necropsies on two additional animals have been completed, but analysis of tissues has not been concluded so game officials remain baffled about why more than 290 elk have died, including another nine found in the field by wildlife managers over the weekend.
The discovery of the additional nine elk leaves officials "disappointed" because last week they believed the herd had passed the point where additional animals would become ill.
In all cases the elk seem basically healthy but they lie down and then cannot get back up.
The first live but afflicted elk transported from the area southwest of Rawlins where 280 have lost leg muscle strength and died or been euthanized, died at the Wyoming State Veterinary Laboratory Friday morning. Two more either died or were euthanized by Monday, Cook said.
Veterinarians had treated four elk for dehydration, plus administered B vitamins, vitamin E, selenium and anti-inflammatory drugs trying to gain insights into the malady that has affected the Sierra Madre herd. One captured cow remains alive and is eating and drinking, but she remains unable to stand, Cook said.
In the arduous process to identify the source of malady, Wyoming State Vet Lab personnel have now ruled out calcium deficiency, chronic wasting disease, bacterial and common viral infections, tick paralysis, and meningeal and carotid artery worm as causes. Mercury poisoning, selenium toxicity, many of the common plant toxins, some insecticides, a variety of metals and salt, nitrate and sulfate poisoning have also been eliminated.
Cook said the analysis of necropsies conducted last week continues and that no definitive reason for the elk illness has been identified.
The Game and Fish is surveying a 50-square-mile area for sick elk and also taking extensive plant samples for analysis. The discovery of dying elk was initially reported to the department on Feb. 8 when a coyote hunter found two elk approximately 15 miles from Rawlins that were alive, but unable to move.
Necropsies on two additional animals have been completed, but analysis of tissues has not been concluded so game officials remain baffled about why more than 290 elk have died, including another nine found in the field by wildlife managers over the weekend.
The discovery of the additional nine elk leaves officials "disappointed" because last week they believed the herd had passed the point where additional animals would become ill.
In all cases the elk seem basically healthy but they lie down and then cannot get back up.
The first live but afflicted elk transported from the area southwest of Rawlins where 280 have lost leg muscle strength and died or been euthanized, died at the Wyoming State Veterinary Laboratory Friday morning. Two more either died or were euthanized by Monday, Cook said.
Veterinarians had treated four elk for dehydration, plus administered B vitamins, vitamin E, selenium and anti-inflammatory drugs trying to gain insights into the malady that has affected the Sierra Madre herd. One captured cow remains alive and is eating and drinking, but she remains unable to stand, Cook said.
In the arduous process to identify the source of malady, Wyoming State Vet Lab personnel have now ruled out calcium deficiency, chronic wasting disease, bacterial and common viral infections, tick paralysis, and meningeal and carotid artery worm as causes. Mercury poisoning, selenium toxicity, many of the common plant toxins, some insecticides, a variety of metals and salt, nitrate and sulfate poisoning have also been eliminated.
Cook said the analysis of necropsies conducted last week continues and that no definitive reason for the elk illness has been identified.
The Game and Fish is surveying a 50-square-mile area for sick elk and also taking extensive plant samples for analysis. The discovery of dying elk was initially reported to the department on Feb. 8 when a coyote hunter found two elk approximately 15 miles from Rawlins that were alive, but unable to move.