Male elk taking over in Smokies herd

Roughly 55 elk roam the park nearly five years after the animals were reintroduced to the area. But there’s a trend toward more males than females in the herd, and that could complicate its chances for survival.

“We just don’t have enough females to reproduce to know what is going on,” said Kim Delozier, the park’s chief biologist.

The $1.1 million, privately funded elk reintroduction project was scheduled to end this year. Delozier and his staff believe another two to three years of study will help them present a better picture of the herd to the University of Tennessee, which will then produce a report for the National Park Service.

Federal law required the park to publish a report on the environmental impacts of the elk project. To extend the study, the park must gather comments from the public, which it did at open meetings last week in Fletcher and Cherokee. Delozier said the feedback was “overwhelmingly positive.”

Delozier hopes to find out next month whether an elk herd in Kentucky can spare some animals to add to the Smokies herd. The plan would have to be approved by the state and the National Park Service.

Elk were once common in the Smokies and the rest of the southern Appalachians, but vanished by the early 19th century due to hunting and habitat loss. The park released 25 elk in the Cataloochee Valley in 2001 and added 27 more in 2002.

Scientists thought the herd would grow faster over the subsequent years, and hope another 25 to 30 animals — mostly females — will provide a large enough study group to discover whether the herd will survive in the future.

The chief threat to the Smokies elks’ survival is the brain-worm parasite. But an Aug. 19 report on the park’s Web site notes that five of the nine calves born since June died within days of their birth — four of them killed by bears.

Delozier said it’s hard to tell exactly how many elk are in the park because some hide in the back country. Researchers using remote cameras have discovered some animals that are not from the original herd, and some that Delozier speculates came from Kentucky have been spotted outside the park.

“There are a few animals that we are basically unable to monitor because of their wariness,” he said.

Others, which he jokingly calls “the Kodak club,” frequent the Cataloochee Valley, where they’re a favorite of tourists.

The animals have become a popular attraction and are featured on hats and T-shirts. Daphne Carson of the Haywood County Chamber of Commerce said visitors come to Haywood County specifically to see the elk.

“I think it’s because so many things are unnatural that people come here to see the natural,” she said. “It’s just one of those awe-inspiring things.”