{"id":96289,"date":"2025-07-27T08:43:09","date_gmt":"2025-07-27T08:43:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/96289\/"},"modified":"2025-07-27T08:43:09","modified_gmt":"2025-07-27T08:43:09","slug":"wvu-researchers-keep-once-native-elk-healthy-in-southern-west-virginia","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/96289\/","title":{"rendered":"WVU researchers keep once-native elk healthy in southern West Virginia"},"content":{"rendered":"

Written by Laura Jackson<\/strong><\/p>\n

On a silent and misty autumn morning, a high-pitched shriek pierces the fog in a Logan County valley. As it echoes from there and rises over the trees, a second, otherworldly scream follows. There\u2019s no mistaking the sound and what it means: It\u2019s breeding season, and West Virginia\u2019s elk herd is on the move.<\/p>\n

Amy Welsh, professor of wildlife and fisheries resources at the West Virginia University Davis College of Agriculture and Natural Resources, and graduate student Adam Cook have been studying this group of animals for several years. They\u2019ve worked with the West Virginia Division of Natural Resources to understand the herd\u2019s genetics, the animals\u2019 adaptive differences, and run a parentage analysis, all of which may dictate the elk population\u2019s future potential success. It\u2019s vital for going forward, because reintroducing the animals hasn\u2019t been easy.<\/p>\n

Elk disappeared from West Virginia more than a century ago. They roamed the forests of the eastern United States prior to European colonization but were extirpated from the region by the late 1800s due to hunting and logging. Efforts to reestablish eastern populations began in the 1890s, but early reintroductions failed because there was no way to monitor a herd\u2019s progress.<\/p>\n

A century later, the WVDNR began studying the requirements for a possible reintroduction of the animals after the state legislature passed a 2015 law allowing them to be returned to West Virginia; however, it wasn\u2019t until Kentucky established a herd that the Mountain State was able to put its own plan into action.<\/p>\n

In 2016, the WVDNR brought 24 elk from a herd in Kentucky\u2019s Land Between the Lakes National Recreation Center and released the animals into Logan County\u2019s Tomblin Wildlife Management Area. In 2018, 15 more LBL elk arrived, as did 60 elk from an Arizona herd.<\/p>\n

Capture and relocation are hard on megafauna, and the new population faced an uphill battle from the start. Fourteen of the Arizona animals died due to stress and a parasitic brainworm. Since then, the WVDNR has been working to grow the herd, but transitions are tough, especially with a potentially deadly parasite present in the ecosystem. To support the health of the animals going forward, Welsh and Cook joined the effort during the summer of 2023 and have studied the genetic diversity of both LBL and Arizona elk.<\/p>\n

That diversity is vital in a small group of animals.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt has really important implications about the future sustainability of these populations,\u201d Cook said. \u201cBecause when you lose diversity, you can get inbreeding, loss of fitness and population shrinking.\u201d<\/p>\n

Recipe for a healthy herd<\/p>\n

With potential future relocations in mind, the division will use the WVU researchers\u2019 data to identify individual elk or groups with adaptations that will give the animals a higher chance of success when moved. These adaptive differences play a role in elk health, especially when it comes to the meningeal brainworm. While the new herd does face threats from predation \u2014 mostly on calves by coyotes and black bears \u2014 the parasite has caused a higher mortality rate. White-tailed deer transmit brainworm but are not sickened by it, yet elk often succumb to the infection.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe can look and see if there is a genetic consistency with all the elk that died from brainworm,\u201d Cook said. Although a susceptibility to the parasite is an unfavorable adaptation, identifying it could help determine which animals are more vulnerable and thus inform the WVDNR about reintroductions to come.<\/p>\n

Another component of the work looked at parentage analysis. The researchers wanted to identify both parents of all 59 elk born in West Virginia since the reintroduction. This data helped determine if members of the two source populations were mating with each other, thus enhancing the herd\u2019s overall genetic diversity. It also allowed Welsh and Cook to see if individuals from Kentucky might be moving across the border and breeding with West Virginia elk.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Kentucky population was a reintroduction that took place around 2000,\u201d Cook said. \u201cAnd Kentucky is the poster child for elk reintroductions in the East because they brought in 1,500 elk from six different states. They went for the quantity and diversity approach, which has worked very well. And they\u2019ve got over 10,000 now.\u201d<\/p>\n

When it comes to maintaining genetic distinction, there\u2019s no way to know how a population will behave. One particular elk herd in the Smoky Mountains also comes from two separate states, but the groups are not breeding.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn other locations, they are mixing,\u201d Welsh said. \u201cSo, we didn\u2019t really know what to expect.\u201d<\/p>\n

Cook added that the WVDNR is still in the early stages of reintroductions, with many unknowns on the horizon.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re hoping that this population will become self-sustaining,\u201d he said. \u201cThat\u2019s the end goal \u2014 a self-sustaining, growing elk population. We\u2019re working towards that.\u201d<\/p>\n

The results are in<\/p>\n

Almost two years after they began their study, Welsh and Cook have determined that the Arizona elk are more genetically diverse than the LBL elk; however, the Arizona animals have a higher risk for mortality due to brainworm.<\/p>\n

The LBL elks\u2019 genetic similarities makes sense, Cook said, because the population was fenced in at their original habitat, and this isolation led to less diversity.<\/p>\n

Additionally, Welsh and Cook were able to identify both parents of most of the calves born in West Virginia since the reintroduction, and the news is encouraging.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are definitely seeing a mixture occurring between LBL and Arizona elk,\u201d Cook said. \u201cMore than half of the 41 parent pairs we identified had one parent from Arizona and one parent from LBL.\u201d Other herds with two distinct groups of animals don\u2019t always blend, and it\u2019s hard to know why, but the parentage analysis shows the West Virginia herd is indeed mixing.<\/p>\n

For calves born into an environment where they\u2019ll be susceptible to brainworm, this genetic advantage may give them a better chance of survival. Hopefully, they\u2019ll inherit the LBL parent\u2019s resistance to infection and the genetic diversity of the Arizona parent.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou\u2019ve got these two positive things,\u201d Cook said. \u201cEach of these groups has something that won\u2019t be lost as the generations continue.\u201d<\/p>\n

As for parentage analysis, Welsh and Cook discovered that the LBL bulls are fathering more offspring than the Arizona bulls. They hypothesize that the older, more experienced LBL bulls have better mating success, but it could also be due to the females\u2019 preference.<\/p>\n

\u201cLBL elk are Manitoban elk and Arizona Elk are Rocky Mountain Elk,\u201d Cook said. \u201cManitoban elk are known to have larger body mass, but Rocky Mountain Elk are known to have larger antlers. So, that could be playing a role in the sexual selection. It\u2019ll be interesting to see if that trend continues.\u201d<\/p>\n

The parentage analysis came with a few surprises, as well. One unidentified elk found near the border is suspected to be from Kentucky\u2019s herd.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s encouraging that we could see this migration or movement of elk coming from that large Kentucky population,\u201d Cook said. \u201cKentucky reintroduced elk from six different sources. So increasing connectivity would be really good for our smaller population.\u201d<\/p>\n

Currently, the West Virginia herd hovers around 130 animals. That may seem like a tiny fraction of the larger herd across the border, but managing elk is a long game.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn terms of population, the numbers aren\u2019t spectacular yet,\u201d Cook said. \u201cEach individual is not going to produce a ton of offspring every year. It\u2019s more of a slow growth thing. But they\u2019re a long-lived species.\u201d<\/p>\n

It\u2019s a promising start. And the WVDNR, now armed with the WVU researchers\u2019 new data, will be able to make informed decisions about genetics, health and future reintroductions. With any luck and a lot of work, the bugling calls of wild elk will echo through the West Virginia hills long into the future.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Written by Laura Jackson On a silent and misty autumn morning, a high-pitched shriek pierces the fog in…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":96290,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[26],"tags":[815,159,67,132,68],"class_list":{"0":"post-96289","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-genetics","8":"tag-genetics","9":"tag-science","10":"tag-united-states","11":"tag-unitedstates","12":"tag-us"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/114924316423900844","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/96289","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=96289"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/96289\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/96290"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=96289"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=96289"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=96289"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}