200 Elk: Free to good home

by Tryan Hartill

OregonLive

Weeks after a proposed elk hunt prompted protests from animal advocates, the Port of Tillamook Bay is still trying to figure out what to do about a pesky elk herd that has grown to nearly 200. The elk destroy fences, tear up agricultural land leased to farmers and wreak havoc on the stormwater well, which apparently is an inviting place for the wildlife to bathe.
But the biggest worry is safety, said Jack Crider, Port manager. Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife officials had planned an emergency hunt in January, but the public outcry was so great, they called it off. The Port of Tillamook received nearly 100 calls and e-mails, with most opposing the hunt.

Any “protesters” want to come clean and explain why you would protest a controlled hunt of these animals?
Do you realize that only one bull is needed for 20 females?
Hundreds of species are dying off because of humans, yet some out there are worried that a herd of 200 elk, (yep that’s 2% of the elk in Tillamook County) just isn’t big enough.
Insanity.

More about our soon-to-be-out-of-control herd:

“There’s a lot of traffic along 101 that stops to look at them,” Crider said. “We don’t want a situation like the one that happened in Astoria, where an elk got on the runway and an airplane hit it. These are 1,000-pound animals.” The accident at the Astoria Regional Airport occurred in winter 2003 when a Learjet hit an elk on takeoff. The elk and the jet were destroyed, but all four people aboard got off the plane safely.

Why does no one else want them?

Farmers don’t want the elk because they eat the forage meant for livestock and tear up their fences, Crider said. Timberland owners don’t want them because they graze on seedlings. The only place welcoming elk is the Biscuit fire area in the Siskiyou National Forest, and that’s already been tagged for elk from another area, he said. “The Port was willing to pay to relocate the elk,” Crider said. “But there is no place in the state for them. It’s really sad to find out no one wants these animals.”

No one wants them except some hunters that will use them for food, but they can’t have them.
This is another one of those situations where environmentalists lose credibility in the eye of the public.
To bad some of their many good causes are tainted by ridiculous actions such as this.

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