Food, Cover and Corn Drive ELK Movement in Nebraska

By Kaylyn Zipp

Elk had been extirpated from Nebraska since the 1800s before they began to reclaim parts of their historical range in the 1960s. But the landscape had changed greatly due to human activities in their absence, and ecologists still don’t have a good grasp on how elk use the land that they have returned to.

Numbers have increased in the past seven decades—elk likely now number up to a few thousand in Nebraska. Recently, in a state dominated by farmland and fragmented habitat, researchers have set out to learn when, where, why and if Rocky Mountain elk (Cervus canadensis) move in Nebraska. The answers could help wildlife managers navigate the growing tension between public admiration for elk and frustration over the damage they can cause.

“In some cases, it appeared that completely different groups of elk occupied natural and agricultural spaces, when in reality it was often the same elk that had moved a considerable distance,” said Tabitha Hughes, a PhD student at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln.