A cow elk is an animal known for being fearful. However, a new study revealed that it is braver when it came to crossing wide sections of rivers, even the Missouri River known for its strong currents as they were seen crossing the river during spring time.
This is according to the Montana’s Fish, Wildlife and Parks (FWP) biologist’s reports published in the Billings Gazette.
By attaching GPS collars into groups of the animals located in the northeasters regions, the researchers were able to find one-third of the 25 elks that were tagged in a particular hunting district were moving south across the Missouri River.
Wildlife manager, Mark Sullivan says that the elks might be back during the hunting season. He also explains that the herds of elks in the hunting districts where the cow elks were collars numbered exceed the population goal of the FWP to more than 300. Herds located in the east are only slightly above the goal.
Sullivan announced in a local news channel that they were above the goal five years ago, however, they have been limiting the licenses on antlers as they were nearing the objective.
Although more information will only be revealed two years from now, when the collars are programmed to automatically drop off from the animals for the researchers to gather, the current information they have already offers a huge amount of insight to the project’s main goal: to find out where the elks go during the different seasons of the year.
For the mean time, scientist also report that a population of bighorn sheep in the same area are flourishing, with its population hitting an all-high six years ago. Their numbers are very strong, and hunters are gunning big ones lately, according to Sullivan.
In another area, the agency was able to increase the population of ewe tags from five to 10 this year to prevent outbreaks, often resulting from high densities.
