Study: Wyoming Elk Feeding Curtails Migration

JACKSON, Wyo. (AP) – New research indicates that the migratory instincts of Jackson Hole’s elk herds have been diminished by decades of supplemental feeding.

Compared with animals that make a living off the land year round, the research finds that northwestern Wyoming’s fed elk don’t migrate as far, migrate faster and spend about a month less on summer range.

However, the Jackson Hole News & Guide reports that no fed elk that were monitored by the study altogether abandoned their migration routes.

The findings were published in the October edition of the academic journal Ecological Applications.

Biologist Jennifer Jones is the lead author of the article.

Jones suggests management strategies, such as closing feedgrounds sooner, that could diminish the effects of northwestern Wyoming’s 23 feedgrounds on migrating elk.