The reintroduction of elk to Kentucky and Virginia has resulted in elk populations in the two states’ shared park.
Photo Above Courtesy of Breaks Interstate Park Facebook.
It’s a comeback story for the ages. After more than a century, elk have been spotted in Breaks Interstate Park on the border of Virginia and Kentucky. The ungulates—larger than white-tail deer but smaller than moose—were once plentiful in the East but were eradicated due to overhunting and habitat loss in the late 1800s. In a major reintroduction effort, wildlife biologists in 1997 released some 1,500 elk from seven western states into eastern Kentucky. A few years later, Virginia released 75 elk on its side of the state line, and the herd has flourished to the point where the Department of Wildlife Resources initiated a limited hunt last year.
The sighting of elk inside the park created a flurry of excitement on social media among wildlife enthusiasts and park visitors, and plans are now taking shape to establish trails at the park to increase the chance of spotting the elk in their natural habitat.
dwr.virginia.gov/wildlife/information/elk/
The story above first appeared in our May / June 2023 issue.
