AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |
Back to Blog
Adult male elk11/8/2023 ![]() ![]() Male elks stand around 5 feet (1.5 metres) tall at the shoulder, measure 8 feet (2.5 metres) in length and weigh 320 kilograms (700 pounds). Mature male elks are around 25% larger than female elks. The velvet is shed in the summer when the antlers have fully developed. While actively growing, the antlers are covered with and protected by a soft layer of highly vascularised skin known as ‘velvet’.īlood pumping through the veins in the velvet on a bulls antlers cools before it returns to the heart to help keep the animal cool. Antlers can reach a length of 4 feet (1.2 metres) and weigh as much as 18 kilograms (40 pounds).Īntlers are made of bone and can grow at a rate of 1 inch per day. Geological Survey and the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife.Males elks have very large antlers which begin to grow in the spring and are shed every winter. The study was completed in collaboration with the U.S. These bacteria appear to be spread through contaminated environments or from elk to elk by direct contact. ![]() The cause of the disease is uncertain, but spiral-shaped bacteria known as Treponemes are thought to be important components. The disease has now been reported in Idaho, Oregon and California as well as in 17 counties in Washington state. Reports of elk hoof disease have steadily increased since 2008. These are just more reasons why we need to figure out how to manage hoof disease." ![]() "Antlers also influence the value people put on elk because they like to see bulls that are big and symmetrical. "Abnormal antlers could influence reproductive success," Wild said. Wild noted antlers play an important role for elk, especially during mating season when bulls use their antlers to spar over rights to mate with female elk. If distinctive features of antlers are associated with infection, observations of antler asymmetry could play a useful role, along with observations of lameness, in surveillance for elk hoof disease. What is different, in this case, is that a transmissible disease is having an impact at a population level. Left and right antlers of healthy elk are usually similar however, physical injuries to legs of individual deer or elk commonly result in antler abnormalities. Wild said impacts probably were greater than reported because some animals with antler asymmetry likely had minor hoof abnormalities not detected by hunters. ![]() For example, 65% of bull elk with six points on one side had asymmetrical antlers when hoof abnormalities were present. On average, antler asymmetry was 16 percentage points greater in bull elk with hoof abnormalities. Hunters reported hoof abnormalities in more than 35% of the elk, suggesting the animals were infected with the disease. Wild, who leads the Washington state Legislature-funded elk hoof disease research program in the WSU Veterinary Microbiology and Pathology Department, collaborated with Glen Sargeant, a research biologist with the United States Geological Survey, to examine hunter harvest reports for adult male elk harvested from 2016 to 2018 in southwestern Washington, where elk hoof disease is common. There is no vaccine to prevent the disease or any proven treatments for infected animals, although research at WSU is investigating the disease to learn how to minimize impacts on elk populations. Affected elk are often observed limping or holding up a foot, and in severe cases often starve due to their inability to walk. Treponeme‐associated hoof disease, commonly known as elk hoof disease, causes sores on the feet and deformed, overgrown, broken or sloughed hooves. "What we saw in these harvest reports was confirmation that if the elk had foot abnormalities, they were much more likely to have asymmetrical antlers." "Hunters reported seeing more elk with abnormal antlers in areas where there was a lot of hoof disease and they just kept asking the question: What is going on here?" said the study's lead author, Margaret Wild, a WSU wildlife veterinarian. The findings, published in The Journal of Wildlife Management, could give wildlife officials and researchers an additional way to identify the disease that poses a risk of decimating elk herds. The researchers examined hunter harvest reports provided by the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife for nearly 1,700 adult male elk, and found bull elk with hoof abnormalities were more likely to have asymmetrical antlers. ![]()
0 Comments
Read More
Leave a Reply. |