![]() These animals were subsequently released into the wild, but this stocking proved to be unsuccessful in re-establishing elk. In fact, in 1913, 50 elk were obtained from the Yellowstone National Park and transferred into an enclosure maintained by the Allegheny Sportsmen's Association at Minnehaha Springs, W.Va., in Pocahontas County. The elk from Kentucky are not West Virginia's first attempt to restore its elk population. 18, 1997, seven elk that had been captured in western Kansas were released at the Cyprus Amax Wildlife Management Area in eastern Kentucky.įrom that small beginning, Kentucky's elk herd has continued to grow and the state's limited elk hunting season now attracts hunters from distant states who spend tourism dollars here, with much of that money being spent in rural areas. In 1996, the foundation pledged $1.4 million in privately raised funds to Kentucky's elk restoration project. ![]() The restoration project was made possible by the Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation, which was founded in 1984 by four Montana elk hunters with the goal of restoring elk in areas where they once flourished. The elk herd established in 1997 in rural, mountainous eastern Kentucky by the Kentucky Department of Fish and Wildlife Reserves continues to flourish and is now estimated at a total of 15,000 elk in Bell, Breathitt, Clay, Floyd, Harlan, Johnson, Knott, Knox, Leslie, Letcher, Magoffin, Martin, McCreary, Perry, Pike and Whitley counties. The state's last elk was killed in Webster County 141 years ago. The Charleston Gazette-Mail reports West Virginia wildlife officials have reached an agreement with officials at Kentucky's Land Between the Lakes and Bison Prairie to bring as many as 27 elk to West Virginia by mid-December.Įlk were once common in West Virginia, but market hunting and habitat loss caused their numbers to decline. Instead, the first elk in West Virginia since the 19th century will be moved there from Kentucky. ![]() However, as a tribute to the highly successful restoration of elk in Kentucky, West Virginia will not have to import elk from west of the Mississippi River. ![]() The Daily Independent on the elk population in Kentucky:Īlmost 20 years after Kentucky began reintroducing elk into the state for the first time in more than a century, wildlife officials in neighboring West Virginia say elk soon will roam its hilly terrain for the first time since 1875. ![]()
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