Elk leaves trail for experts as it wanders through California on rare 40-mile trek

When a biologist with the California Department of Fish and Wildlife heard a Rocky Mountain elk had been spotted south of Lake Tahoe — an area rarely inhabited by elk — he saw an opportunity, according to CDFW.

“I thought, ‘We’ve got to jump on this,” Nathan Graveline, a CDFW biologist, said in a new release. “If we can get a good DNA sample, we can figure out there the elk came from.”

CDFW set up trail cameras in the Crystal Basin Recreation Area to capture a photo of the elk and collected droppings to use as DNA samples, CDFW said. The samples were then sent to Dr. Benjamin Sacks, director of the Mammalian Ecology and Conservation Unit at the University of California, home to Davis’ Veterinary Genetics Lab, according to CDFW.

Sacks determined the elk likely came from the northeastern part of the state, CDFW said.

The story became more interesting when the elk was seen during a helicopter survey near Sonora Pass — 40 miles south from where it was first sighted — six weeks later, CDFW said. Scientists went to the spot where the elk was seen and collected more droppings and tested them, according to CDFW.

“We did the genotyping and it turns out it was the exact same elk that was tracked south of Lake Tahoe,” Tom Batter, a Ph.D. candidate in Sacks’ lab.

The elk traveled farther than Rocky Mountain elk usually go, since they’re able to find food much farther north, CDFW said.

“That boy was on quite a quest. He likely traveled over some pretty rocky terrain, depending on which route he took, “ Shelly Blair, a unit biologist in El Dorado County said. “Without the DNA, it would have been a total mystery as to where the elk came from.”

Scientists believe the elk may have been pushed out of a herd because it’s a young male, which could explain why he traveled so far off course, according to CDFW. They also think this could indicate that elk populations might start venturing further south in the future, CDFW said.

“If you see an elk — especially in places where you don’t normally see one — definitely take a photo with you smartphone and let us know,” Kristin Denryter, coordinator of CDFW’s Elk and Pronghorn Antelope Program, said.

This story was originally published June 2, 2020 at 10:09 PM with the headline "Elk leaves trail for experts as it wanders through California on rare 40-mile trek."